The Overlooked Detail in Oregon vs. Oregon State Playing in Portland

With the spring season right around the corner, the Oregon Ducks baseball team gears up to enter the dugout after a 2024-2025 season that brought the program it's first ever Big Ten Championship win and first conference championship victory since 1974.

The Ducks emerged as the No. 23 slot in the initial USA Today Coaches Poll of the upcoming season (the only Big Ten team besides No. 3 UCLA to get on the list) and recently scheduled a non-conference game at a unique setting that could spell the future of an iconic college sports rivalry.

Oregon Ducks baseball series vs. Michigan Wolverines April 4, 2025. | Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Revisiting the Rivalry

Announced on Tuesday, the Ducks will take on their in-state rival, the Oregon State Beavers in both teams' first game at the newly constructed Hops Ballpark in Hillsboro, Oregon, just outside of Portland, Oregon on Apr. 14.

This rivalry game, kicking off the inaugural Northwest Elite Baseball Classic, is the first time the Ducks and Beavers will play in the Portland-metro area since 2010, when the two-game series hauled in 29,249 fans and broke a baseball attendance record at the now Providence Park.

A historic rivalry comes to Hillsboro 🔥@OregonBaseball takes on @BeaverBaseball in the first ever Northwest Elite Baseball Classic right here at the brand new state-of-the-art Hops ballpark!

Must purchase a Hops plan by Feb. 11 for pre-sale access: https://t.co/nZw93TrAxq pic.twitter.com/mEkQQU4Op1
— Hillsboro Hops (@HillsboroHops) February 10, 2026

The Benefit of Oregon Baseball in Portland

"This event allows us to connect with Duck fans across the state and showcase college baseball at the highest level while supporting the continued growth of our program," Oregon baseball coach Mark Wazikowski said about the game.

This rivalry game in the "Rose City" highlights an element that's been present in this in-state rivalry for each sport: the Portland area. It's sewn into the history of these teams meeting, but why isn't Portland a regular spot for games between these two iconic Oregon teams?

Oregon State infielder Travis Bazzana slides safely into second under cover from Oregon infielder Drew Smith as the Oregon Ducks host the Oregon State Beavers Tuesday, April 30, 2024, at PK Park in Eugene, Ore. | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK

History of Playing in Portland By Each Program

Looking over the Oregon Ducks football, men's and women's basketball, baseball, and softball program history, here's the total of each major sport getting a rivalry game in or around the Portland-metro area.

Football: 6 (1952, 1950, 1938, 1933, 1917, 1908)
Men's Basketball: 2 (1996-97, 1995-96)
(This history is recorded from 1995 - onwards, though given that this particular rivalry is the fifth oldest in college basketball history, it's safe to say the likelihood of other games being played in Portland is high.)
Women's Basketball: 0 (This history is recorded since 2002.)
Baseball: 3 (2010, 2009 x2)
(This history is recorded from 2009 - onwards, and it's safe to say the likelihood of other games being played in Portland is high.)
Softball: 0 (This history is recorded since 2001.)

The takeaway here is that the Portland area played a neutral site role in the earlier stages of the Oregon and Oregon State rivalry, with Oregon baseball and men's basketball leading the charge for recent matchups in the area.

Nov 24, 2022; Portland, Oregon, USA; Connecticut Huskies guard Jordan Hawkins (24) is fouled as he scores a basket during the second half against Oregon Ducks center Nate Bittle (32) at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Oregon Men's Basketball Already Plays in Portland for Select Non-Conference Games

It should also be noted that Oregon men's basketball played the Gonzaga Bulldogs for the second time in 25 years at the Moda Center, the home of the Portland Trail Blazers, in Dec. of 2025 as part of the Northwest Elite Showdown. Portland acted as the mid-point between the Ducks' Eugene, Oregon homebase and Gonzaga's home city of Spokane, Washington. 10,055 fans showed up for the non-conference match-up

According to an article from Addicted to Quack from 2024, when the men's basketball team was ranked No. 10 in the nation at the end of the 2023-2024 season, attendance per game was around 6,108 at Matthew Knight Arena.

The Phil Knight Invitational (in 2022 and in 2017) celebrating Nike co-founder Phil Knight's 80 and 85 birthdays at the Moda Center also brought the Ducks men's basketball team to a neutral site to face teams like Connecticut, proving the Moda Center (especially with renovations potentially on the horizon) is a suitable venue for neutral site games.

MORE: Dan Lanning's Biggest Weakness Might Actually Be His Biggest Strength

MORE: Four-Star Wide Receiver Recruit Dillon Mitchell Opens Up About Oregon Ducks Offer

MORE: Two Oregon Recruits Who Could Shine as Freshmen For the Ducks

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER HERE!

Sep 20, 2025; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Oregon State Beavers running back Anthony Hankerson (0) carries the ball for a touchdown against the Oregon Ducks during the first quarter of the game at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

The Continuation of the Rivalry Series in Portland

Though, obviously, the Oregon and Oregon State football rivalry making it's way to Portland is a far cry due to lack of facilities and supportive infrastructure in the city (though the Big Sky Conference's Portland State Vikings did play the Montana Grizzlies at Providence Park during the 2025-2026 season), the Ducks and Beavers baseball teams playing at Hops Ballpark opens the Pandora's Box of a dwindling rivalry finding neutral cites in Oregon's biggest city.

The Ducks and Beavers do not have a scheduled game for the 2026-2027 football season, with Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens stating his thoughts on the future of the in-state showdown.

“That game matters to us, for our state, to our fans,” said Mullens. “We’re fortunate we have that game at Autzen this year. The two years after that are a little complicated. We’re still continuing to have dialogue with Oregon State, and we’d love to make that happen. It is a little complicated for those two years, for ’26 and ’27. We don’t have a solution yet. But I do see that game continuing in the future, for sure.”

If there are gaps in the future between both teams playing each other in several sports due to conference realignment, would the next step be scheduling games in Portland, so the debate over home field advantage is put to bed?

For some Duck and Beaver fans, that thought might be a dystopian idea, but for the future of the rivalry, the Northwest Elite Baseball Classic might crack open the door for a way to preserve the historic in-state match-up for both colleges for years to come (or at least, the years both programs can meet for certain sports).