QuickTake:

Oregon State and Oregon won’t play in 2026 for the first time since 1944, but the two schools did come to an agreement for a four-game series beginning in Corvallis in 2028. 

Nobody liked playing Oregon State more than Bryce Boettcher.

The former Oregon two-sport standout faced the Beavers on the baseball field and the football field. And while, yes, that whole conference realignment thing happened and completely tilted the rivalry in Oregon’s favor, it was still that team from up the road.

“I’d like to play Oregon State every year for the rest of my life,” said Boettcher, a Eugene native, after Oregon beat Oregon State last season. “It wakes you up.”

In other words, whether the game is played in November like it was for decades, or in September, there’s still something different about playing the closest Division I school nearby.

And it seems the two schools agree.

While Oregon and Oregon State will not play in 2026 for the first time since 1944, the two schools announced Tuesday a four-game series beginning in 2028. Oregon State will host Oregon on Sept. 16, 2028. Oregon will host Oregon State on Sept. 15, 2029 and Aug. 30, 2031. Oregon State will host the Ducks again on Sept. 11, 2032.

Of note: The game skips the 2030 season, and the 2031 game will be the season opener for both teams.

Oregon also moved its previously scheduled 2029 game against Utah State from Sept. 15 to Sept. 8 to accommodate the rivalry matchup.

The Ducks beat the Beavers 41-7 last season at Autzen Stadium, a game after which Oregon coach Dan Lanning expressed his interest in continuing the rivalry between the two schools. Oregon leads the all-time series 70-49-10 and has won the last three meetings by a combined score of 129-28.

“It certainly means a ton to us,” Lanning said after the game. “I think everyone feels like this resonates a little bit more when it’s on that Thanksgiving weekend. It’s a little bit different when it’s not, but it’s still a game that means a ton. What was this, the 129th meeting? One that we have a lot of pride in. So, yeah, it means a ton to our players, and I think they really vocalized that throughout the weekend, then today.”

Lanning didn’t know then when the 130th meeting between the schools would come.

He does now.

And when it arrives, it will be Oregon’s first game against Oregon State in the Beavers’ new-old conference, with the Pac-12 beginning its rebuilt era this season with Boise State, Utah State, Texas State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Fresno State joining Oregon State and Washington State in the fold.

Tyson Alger covered the Ducks for The Oregonian and The Athletic before branching out on his own to create and run The I-5 Corridor. He brings more than a decade of experience on the University of Oregon sports beat. He has covered everything from Marcus Mariota’s Heisman Trophy-winning season to the Ducks’ first year in the Big 10.