It’s been a while since Oregon State was a part of a game like this.

The Beavers (13-5, 3-2) host No. 16 Gonzaga (14-4, 5-0) at 8 p.m. Thursday on CBS Sports Network and, in more ways than one, it’s the biggest home game for the men’s basketball team in quite some time.

There have been hyped-up games — like the clash with Oregon earlier in the season.

There have been upsets — like last year’s win over top-10 Arizona.

There have been big games elsewhere — like the Beavers’ run through the Pac-12 tournament and to the Elite Eight in 2021.

But when it comes to Gill Coliseum, there haven’t been many games in recent memory that had this much hype and importance.

You can go back to 2016, when Oregon State beat a ranked USC team on the way to the NCAA tournament.

Or back in early 2020, when the Beavers beat a top-15 Oregon team, finishing the regular season at 18-13 before COVID shut down the rest of the season.

In any case, it’s been a long time.

The Beavers are competitive for the first time since the 2021 tournament run. They’ve already matched their win total from last season and exceeded the win total from the previous two seasons.

Now the question is — how competitive are they?

This game is a measuring stick game for Oregon State. To truly compete, you have to stand toe-to-toe with the big dogs.

Gonzaga is the cream of the crop in the West Coast Conference, and in West Coast basketball in general. It has made the NCAA tournament every year since the 1998-99 season (with the exception of the canceled 2020 tournament, a year in which it was 31-2 and considered one of the favorites).

The Bulldogs have won at least 25 games every year since 2008-09. They have won 10 of the last 12 WCC tournaments. They have produced NBA legends like John Stockton and a slew of current players like Domantas Sabonis, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Suggs, among many others.

This year’s team has plenty of talent, including forward Graham Ike and guards like Ryan Nembhard, Nolan Hickman and Khalif Battle.

And there’s no doubt Mark Few is one of the best head coaches in college basketball.

The Bulldogs are the gold standard. Competing with them — and especially beating them — would likely go a long way to moving past the difficult last few years and helping to rebuild this Oregon State program.

Obviously, a win Thursday in the first meeting between these two teams since the 1991-92 season helps the outlook for the Beavers.

The Beavers, ranked No. 58 in the NET, are 0-4 in Quad 1 games this season (losses to Oregon, North Texas, Nebraska and Santa Clara).

A win over the No. 11 team in the NET would be a real resume booster. It could also go a long way in the WCC title race. Getting a three or four seed in the tournament means one less game than going in as the five or six seed.

But the importance of this game, and the rematch at Gonzaga on Jan. 28, goes beyond just this season.

This is not just a one off. Oregon State will be seeing a lot of Gonzaga for years to come.

Both teams will remain in the WCC next season and then they will be a part of the new Pac-12 beginning in 2026. There will be quality teams from the Mountain West in the new Pac-12, but Gonzaga will likely still be the one to beat.

If the Beavers can prove they can hang now, it would be a pretty big statement going forward that the Bulldogs can’t ever look past a trip to Gill Coliseum.

Gonzaga has thrived in difficult environments, going 30-5 on the road over the last four-plus seasons. It should be a big crowd at Gill on Thursday night, but that won’t intimidate the Bulldogs.

Winning this one won’t be easy.

Oregon State, ranked 18th in scoring defense, will need to find ways to shut down the fourth-highest scoring team in the country. Forward Parsa Fallah will be critical on the interior, and Michael Rataj and Nate Kingz will need to make their shots.

Once the final buzzer sounds Thursday night, Oregon State will be in one of two places. Will it remain the status quo, with the Beavers one step behind? Or will the Beavers tell the rest of the WCC that they’re here to play?