Beavers

Between the first Oregon State title, claimed in 1893 when the program was barely off the ground, and the most recent one in 2024, more than a century passed — and for long stretches inside it, Corvallis had almost nothing to show at all. The Beavers won conference championships in 1893 and 1897 under the old Oregon Intercollegiate Football Association, then went decades before the Pacific Coast Conference crowns of 1941, 1956 and 1957 arrived. A single Athletic Association of Western Universities title followed in 1964, then another long gap before the Pac-10 championship of 2000, and a final one in the Pac-12 in 2024.

The programme's individual high point came in 1962, when running back Terry Baker won the Heisman Trophy, still the only one in the school's history. Bowl football has been kinder in patches than the league table suggests: Oregon State beat Duke in the 1941 Rose Bowl, then had to wait until 2000 to add a Fiesta Bowl win, and later took the Las Vegas Bowl twice, in 2003 and 2022.

Corvallis has sent a steady run of players into the NFL rather than producing one defining era. Johnny Hekker left as a punter and became a four-time All-Pro. Steven Jackson and Jacquizz Rodgers built their names as running backs before turning professional, and Brandin Cooks went in the first round of the draft after his time catching passes for the Beavers.

Orange and black have been the colours throughout, and the team still plays in Corvallis, a college town built around Oregon State University. Reser Stadium, rebuilt in stages over the years, now holds 35,548 and remains the one constant through all the lean years and the occasional title.