Chip Kelly: It’s a ‘travesty’ Washington State, Oregon State left out of expansion

Chip Kelly called Washington State and Oregon State being left out of expansion a “travesty,” following UCLA’s win over the aforementioned Cougars.

The two schools are the remaining ones in the Pac-12 going into 2024 while the rest of the conference heads to the Big Ten, such as UCLA, or the Big 12. The future of the pac-12 is currently unknown as far as disbandment or a retooling.

Kelly was still adamant that Wazzu and the Beavers getting left out is a hard pill to swallow.

“I talked to (Washington State AD) Pat Chun a little bit,” Kelly said postgame. “I think it’s a travesty that Washington State’s not in a conference. That to me is a joke. That’s a really, really good football team and a school that’s had a bunch of tradition. And it’s the same thing with Oregon State. The fact those two schools aren’t in a Power Five conference or won’t be in a Power Five conference next year is… people should figure it out.

“There’s a lot of really smart people in college athletics. But if we let those two schools not end up in a Power Five, then shame on us. That’s just not right.”

Chip Kelly complimentary of Washington State QB Cam Ward following win

Kelly raved about his defense containing Cougars quarterback Cam Ward, who’s had a fantastic season up to this point.

“I think Cam Ward is one of the really special quarterbacks,” Kelly said. “I think that he was 19 of 39 and he hadn’t thrown a pick on the season. To pick them twice, we knew that was going to be a challenge. But I think it was both – the coverage on the back end and that was a question earlier in the week with how those guys would hold up, and then the pressure that our front provided and our linebackers provided. 

“There were a bunch of them. That was the cool part about today that there were so many guys that contributed, specifically on that side. And it was impressive to see. You know, they play hard and for each other, and that was really impressive. I think that was really the story, in terms of shutting them down. I think that it was a total team defense that shut them down.”

Now that UCLA jumped in front of Washington State, the Bruins kept their Pac-12 title hopes alive. The loss to Utah stings, but they’re back in the thick of things.

With a game against USC later this year a key, perhaps UCLA can go on a run now, in the final year of the Pac-12 as we know it. Unfortunately, Washington State and Oregon State have big unknowns post-2023.