Varsity - The Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics

Varsity - March 20, 2014

Varsity is the free Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics, covering Badgers football, basketball, hockey and more each week.

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16 // VARSITY March 20, 2014 BY BARRY ALVAREZ // UW DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS BEHIND THE DESK I watched the NCAA tournament selection show with a cross- section of people that included alums from Michigan, Ohio State and Michigan State. Everyone had great interest in seeing where they might end up. I was really hoping that we'd get Milwaukee. When we did, I was pumped. It's good for our kids and our fans and I'm really excited about playing games there. For one thing, it's not like we have to travel half- way across the country like when we were sent to Albuquerque in 2012 and Tucson in 2011. Milwau- kee is an easy drive and we should be fresh for the tournament. I know there's a lot of love out there for us from all the experts. And rightfully so. We've got a good resume. We've beaten a lot of good teams, including championship teams, like Virginia, Florida, Michi- gan and Michigan State. We're capable of beating anyone. I thought in the second half Saturday against the Spartans that we really fought hard and showed some character and toughness in coming back against them and making it a good game. When they're healthy, when they've got all of their pieces, Michigan State is obviously really good. But they've taken their lumps like everybody else during the season. You have a lot of teams that are capable of getting hot and it comes down to who's going to get on a roll in March. That's why I love this time of the year. It never gets old for me. As much as I could, I found myself watching the selection com- mittee process more closely than I have in the past because of my involvement with College Football Playoff selection committee. I'm looking at it a little bit differently and I'm more interested in some of the things that they're doing. I like to listen to the commit- tee members, who are right in the middle of it all. Yet they can't expose a lot. They're very guarded when they talk and understand- ably so. The smart thing is to have one voice, so it's consistent. Our associate athletic direc- tor, Terry Gawlik, has been on the women's selection committee and she has shown me their fact sheets and the process that they go through. Two of our football committee members have a lot of experience with the men's tournament: Mike Tranghese and Tom Jernstedt. There are certain stats that I feel are very important. But for guys like myself, former football coach- es like Tom Osborne and Tyrone Willingham, we'll probably use the eye test moreso than maybe some of the others on the committee. When it's all said and done, we have to get it right. A few weeks ago, I was channel surfing when I came across the "Inside the Brackets'' show on Big Ten Network. It was interesting to listen to some of their comments on how they go about their work. It won't be exactly the same, but there will be some similar issues that we will have to deal with next fall. In college football, we've talked about how the only way you're going to change the perception of the Big Ten is to win bowl games. Just having a high ranking or get- ting into a bowl doesn't do you any good if you lose the game. You've got to win. It's the same in basketball. I think we have some Big Ten teams that can go deep in the tourna- ment. But they have to go out and do it. Besides Michigan State, Michi- gan has proven that it can beat anyone ― just like we can beat anyone ― and we both get to take our first steps in Milwaukee. I'm sure our fans will respond to our presence there. New perspective on selection committee work I FOUND MYSELF WATCHING THE SELECTION COMMITTEE PROCESS MORE CLOSELY THAN I HAVE IN THE PAST BECAUSE OF MY INVOLVEMENT WITH COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SELECTION COMMITTEE. I'M LOOKING AT IT A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENTLY AND I'M MORE INTERESTED IN SOME OF THE THINGS THAT THEY'RE DOING.

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