Gilbertson Will Be Back

Washington Coach Keith Gilbertson will return for at least one more season despite a crushing loss to California, Athletic Director Barbara Hedges said.

Gilbertson signed a four-year contract with two years essentially guaranteed when he was hired in late July after the firing of Rick Neuheisel.

“He stepped into a very difficult situation at a very late date,” Hedges told The Seattle Times. “Some things this season have not gone as expected, but he is an outstanding coach.”

Even if the Huskies (5-6) lose to No. 8 Washington State (9-2) in the Apple Cup this Saturday after their collapse in a 54-7 loss to the Bears last weekend, Gilbertson’s job is safe, she said.

“All the coaches on this staff have my full 100% support,” Hedges said.

According to a report broadcast Monday night on KING-TV in Seattle, Gilbertson is under investigation by the state ethics board after his wife and two children flew to the season-opening game at Ohio State on a booster’s jet.

No state employees are allowed to receive gifts worth more than $50, KING reported.

Mike Hunsinger, a lawyer for the coach, said Gilbertson had done nothing wrong but offered to reimburse the booster.

A loss Saturday would end the Huskies’ streak of 26 years without a losing season, the fourth-longest active streak behind Nebraska (42), Michigan (36) and Florida State (27).

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A U.S. senator wants bowl championship series leaders to brief him before he decides whether to hold more Congressional hearings on whether smaller schools are being treated unfairly.

The issue was debated Sunday in New Orleans and university presidents and chancellors came up with a process to change the current bowl system.

Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) wrote a letter Friday to University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer, a member of the BCS Presidential Oversight Committee, asking for a briefing and “any plans the BCS had to make postseason college football more accessible and fair.”

“I am troubled by the current system and believe it is unfair to colleges and universities that are not members of the BCS,” Bennett, chairman of the Joint Economic Committee in Congress, wrote in a letter obtained by Associated Press.