Two poll-based college football rankings systems predate the BCS and have been in use for many years.  The Associated Press or AP poll started in 1936 and has been in continuous use to the present day.  The Coaches poll is the other major football poll and has been used in various forms beginning in 1950.

In the table below are the end of season or final rankings for past OSU football teams ordered by AP rankings.  Twelve past OSU teams have finished the season ranked in one or both polls.

While these teams listed in the table are among the best ever in Oregon State history, note that 3 did not finish their seasons with a berth in a bowl game.  In those years, the Pac-8 conference did not allow a second team to participate in a bowl game, only the conference champion appeared in the Rose Bowl.  The 1962 team played in the Liberty Bowl because Oregon State was an independent and not a member of the Pac-8’s predecessor, the Pacific Coast Conference.

Two very good football teams were inexplicably not ranked by the polls at the end of the season.  The 1939 team finished 9-1-1 and was ranked as high as 11^th in the AP poll.  That team was ranked for 4 weeks of the season and played 2 ranked opponents.  This team was the first ever at Oregon State to be ranked in the polls.

The biggest oversight by the pollsters was the 1957 Oregon State squad which finished the season at 8-2 and was overlooked by both polls in the final ballots.  The 1957 team was Pacific Coast Conference Champions, was ranked as high as 7^th by the AP and was in the polls for 5 weeks (half of the regular season).  That team was 2-0 vs. ranked USC and Rose Bowl representative Oregon but could not go to the Rose Bowl because of the conference’s no-repeat rule.

Five of the 12 teams that have finished the season ranked in the polls have been fielded in the last dozen seasons, including the most recent – the 2012 OSU Beaver football team.