Oregon State Football: Pac-12 Media Poll Picks Beavers 10th Overall In Pac-12; 5th In North Division

The bottom of the Pac-12.

For seasons now, it’s been where Oregon State football has dwelled, as the Beavers haven’t posted a winning campaign since 2013 under head coach Mike Riley. However, with a new swing of enthusiasm in the program now that Jonathan Smith is running the show, the belief if that Oregon State would begin to make their leaps from cellar dwellers to midfield ramblers.

Apparently, the Pac-12 media doesn’t agree.

In their annual preseason poll which was released on Pac-12 media day Tuesday, the media selected the Beavers to finish 5th in the North Division with a total of 71 points gained, out lasting North Division last-place choice Washington State by just six points. Overall, the program was ranked above just the Cougars and Arizona (41 points) in the league as a whole, predicting them to be the 10th best team in the Conference of Champions.

As per the usual, the names atop the poll were Oregon (238 points, 38 first-place votes) representing the North Division and USC (223 points, 27 first-place votes), with the Ducks chosen to win the Pac-12 Championship game. The poll also saw a surprise six teams receive at least one first-place vote, including Utah (6), Arizona State (6), Washington (2) and UCLA (1).

The Beavers open their season in just over a month on Saturday, September 4th against Purdue at 4:00 PM PT in West Lafayette, Indiana. The game will be televised nationally on Fox Sports 1.