Photo by: David Stluka
Alvarez: Exciting bowl matchups for Badgers, CFP
December 08, 2015 | Football
Insight on College Football Playoff committee and Holiday Bowl
BY BARRY ALVAREZ
UW Director of Athletics
MADISON, Wis. — It was a classic old coal miner's game. That's what I was thinking watching Michigan State play Iowa for the Big Ten championship.
It was about field position and what it was not. It was about not beating yourself. It was about not turning it over. It was about not doing anything stupid, no foolish penalties.
One guy in our meeting room for the College Football Playoff selection committee would have known what I was talking about.
That was Dan Radakovich, the Clemson athletic director. Like me, he grew up Pennsylvania. We laughed about it afterwards. He was definitely a guy who was invested with his team playing last Saturday.
As a committee, we watched the league title games together. We sat in two rows in a conference room. And we had all the games going on at one time.
People were talking openly about different things that came up and they were making comments throughout the games. It was just like if you were watching from your living room.
For me, the Big Ten title game was as good as it gets.
Iowa has been criticized all year because people undervalued them. Bobby Johnson was high on them. Bobby, the former coach at Vanderbilt and Furman, replaced Archie Manning on the committee this year.
I was high on them, too. You have to beat them. That's just the way they play. They have good enough skill players on offense and their secondary is athletic enough to cover people.
You have to be able to hold up against them, especially up front. You could see why they were undefeated and I think they gained more respect with their play against Michigan State.
I know Paul Finebaum has never cut the Big Ten any slack. But he finally relented the other day. He was impressed with what he saw and referenced the Big Ten in a positive note. He knows how good Ohio State is. To see Michigan State beat them on the road, and for Iowa to play Michigan State the way they did, it changed his and a lot of people's thinking around the country.
I like the final four matchups. You have totally different games with Michigan State vs. Alabama and Clemson vs. Oklahoma. Any matchup of those teams would have been very interesting.
As far as the top four, it has been well-documented that there was not a lot of discussion. We did have quite a bit on who would be three or four, with the Spartans moving ahead of the Sooners. We also had a lot of discussion on five, six and seven (Iowa, Stanford and Ohio State). And we probably spent our most time filling out the final three or four final spots in our Top 25.
All in all, we were pleased and felt like we got it right.
The core of our group returned for a second year and everyone knew what to expect this time around. It's a good group of people that work well together. We condensed and modified some things, which saved us time. The first year was a little more difficult, which was OK. I think everybody was pleased and felt good about it when we left Sunday.
Like Paul Chryst, I'm excited about our matchup with Southern Cal.
I talked to Pat Haden, the USC athletic director, a couple of weeks ago and I told him how I was really impressed with his team. It's young and talented. It will be a good test for us.
When you have an opponent like this -- with name recognition and football tradition -- it gives you something to shoot at and focus on during the bowl preparation.
It was just like opening the season with Alabama -- there's extra motivation. Your team changes from the end of the regular season to the bowl. Going into the game with the right attitude is important.
I know the people from the Holiday Bowl selection committee are thrilled by the matchup. And I know our kids will be excited about San Diego. I know I am. I've been in that bowl.
The last game that I coached at Iowa was in the Holiday Bowl (a 39-38 win over San Diego State in 1986). It was a great game. Rob Houghtlin kicked a 41-yard field goal as time expired.
This week, I'm going to fly to Texas with our volleyball team for their Sweet 16 matchup Friday against Florida in the NCAA tournament. They've been really fun to watch.
You can say the same about Mark Johnson's undefeated hockey team. Last Friday, we had big, enthusiastic crowds for hockey and volleyball. That's awesome. It's an exciting time of the year.
UW Director of Athletics
MADISON, Wis. — It was a classic old coal miner's game. That's what I was thinking watching Michigan State play Iowa for the Big Ten championship.
It was about field position and what it was not. It was about not beating yourself. It was about not turning it over. It was about not doing anything stupid, no foolish penalties.
One guy in our meeting room for the College Football Playoff selection committee would have known what I was talking about.
That was Dan Radakovich, the Clemson athletic director. Like me, he grew up Pennsylvania. We laughed about it afterwards. He was definitely a guy who was invested with his team playing last Saturday.
As a committee, we watched the league title games together. We sat in two rows in a conference room. And we had all the games going on at one time.
People were talking openly about different things that came up and they were making comments throughout the games. It was just like if you were watching from your living room.
For me, the Big Ten title game was as good as it gets.
Iowa has been criticized all year because people undervalued them. Bobby Johnson was high on them. Bobby, the former coach at Vanderbilt and Furman, replaced Archie Manning on the committee this year.
I was high on them, too. You have to beat them. That's just the way they play. They have good enough skill players on offense and their secondary is athletic enough to cover people.
You have to be able to hold up against them, especially up front. You could see why they were undefeated and I think they gained more respect with their play against Michigan State.
I know Paul Finebaum has never cut the Big Ten any slack. But he finally relented the other day. He was impressed with what he saw and referenced the Big Ten in a positive note. He knows how good Ohio State is. To see Michigan State beat them on the road, and for Iowa to play Michigan State the way they did, it changed his and a lot of people's thinking around the country.
I like the final four matchups. You have totally different games with Michigan State vs. Alabama and Clemson vs. Oklahoma. Any matchup of those teams would have been very interesting.
As far as the top four, it has been well-documented that there was not a lot of discussion. We did have quite a bit on who would be three or four, with the Spartans moving ahead of the Sooners. We also had a lot of discussion on five, six and seven (Iowa, Stanford and Ohio State). And we probably spent our most time filling out the final three or four final spots in our Top 25.
All in all, we were pleased and felt like we got it right.
The core of our group returned for a second year and everyone knew what to expect this time around. It's a good group of people that work well together. We condensed and modified some things, which saved us time. The first year was a little more difficult, which was OK. I think everybody was pleased and felt good about it when we left Sunday.
Like Paul Chryst, I'm excited about our matchup with Southern Cal.
I talked to Pat Haden, the USC athletic director, a couple of weeks ago and I told him how I was really impressed with his team. It's young and talented. It will be a good test for us.
When you have an opponent like this -- with name recognition and football tradition -- it gives you something to shoot at and focus on during the bowl preparation.
It was just like opening the season with Alabama -- there's extra motivation. Your team changes from the end of the regular season to the bowl. Going into the game with the right attitude is important.
I know the people from the Holiday Bowl selection committee are thrilled by the matchup. And I know our kids will be excited about San Diego. I know I am. I've been in that bowl.
The last game that I coached at Iowa was in the Holiday Bowl (a 39-38 win over San Diego State in 1986). It was a great game. Rob Houghtlin kicked a 41-yard field goal as time expired.
This week, I'm going to fly to Texas with our volleyball team for their Sweet 16 matchup Friday against Florida in the NCAA tournament. They've been really fun to watch.
You can say the same about Mark Johnson's undefeated hockey team. Last Friday, we had big, enthusiastic crowds for hockey and volleyball. That's awesome. It's an exciting time of the year.
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