Brandon Kipper is one of the Beavers’ most experienced players on the 2022 roster. A sixth-year senior, the offensive lineman has seen Oregon State go 0-for in Pac-12 play. He’s been on a one-win squad, a two-win team with a new head coach, and watched that coach slowly but surely climb the Beavers out of the Pac-12 basement.

On the heels of a 7-6 campaign and the program’s first bowl appearance since 2013, Kipper has a bold prediction for his final season in Corvallis.

“I believe we can be the best team in the Pac-12,” he said Wednesday, according to BeaverBlitz’s Carter Bahns. “I’ll say that loud and proud.

The Beavers haven’t been to a Rose Bowl since the 1964 season when Tommy Prothro led an 8-3 charge in his last year at the helm of the program. They have one win in three appearances all time.

But Oregon State seemingly has faith.

They don’t have to win the division this season, with the Pac-12 changing its conference title game structure to feature the top two teams in the league rather than its North and South division winners. The Beavers beat the eventual champs last year, too. That win over Utah was the exclamation point on a 5-2 start.

Oregon State faltered down the stretch, however, losing four of its last six games.

Maybe they have the pieces to finish the job this season. Kipper makes up part of what figures to be one of the best offensive lines in the conference, if not the country. Newly-promoted defensive coordinator Trent Bray is looking to re-energize the Beavers’ defense.

The Beavers get USC at home to open Pac-12 play and Oregon at home to end it. Kipper and his teammates will have a chance to prove it.