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All signs point to change coming to BCS BEHIND THE DESK BARRY ALVAREZ • UW DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS I don't know if it's a good or bad thing for college football that a Southeastern Conference school has won each of the last six BCS championships. But I know that's where the best football is being played right now. You know how hard that is for me to say? Still, it's a fact. Just take a look at Alabama and LSU — and Arkansas isn't that far behind them. The high school football that's being played in the SEC states is very good. Those recruits don't leave the area very often. So I don't think it's any secret that the SEC is the top conference. But I've always believed such things are cyclical. I can remember in the '70s and '80s when the Big Ten couldn't win in the Rose Bowl. In the '90s, the cycle turned and we had a stretch of wins from our conference. Now, we're back to having a hard time winning again in Pasadena. But it will swing back again. To be honest, I wasn't crazy about watching a repeat in the BCS title game. When the contract expires, it looks like we're headed towards a "plus-one" model. I like the idea of adding one more BCS game because now you can seed four teams. You'd have the No. 1 seed play No. 4, and No. 2 play No. 3. 10 » VARSITY JANUARY 12, 2012 I like the idea of adding one more BCS game because now you can seed four teams. This year, you'd have LSU vs. Stanford and Alabama vs. Oklahoma State. I think that's one of the reasons why they've had such poor atten- dance at some of these games. I don't think any league should be limited to two teams in BCS bowls, either. It hurt us one year. And it also hurt Michigan State. Thoughts on coaching search Since the Rose Bowl, Bret has been busy interviewing candidates for his staff. On the heels of losing some as- sistants, everyone is quick to think the sky is falling. I don't understand that, espe- cially since we just went to back-to- This year, you'd have LSU versus Stanford and Alabama versus Okla- homa State. The winners would then play one more game for the championship. The rest of the bowls are all the same. Nothing else changes. The other thing I'd like to see is eliminating the conference guaran- tees or automatic qualifiers. back Rose Bowls. Plus, we've had a long string of nice football teams. Trust me; it's not the end of the world. These openings are an opportu- nity for us to get some new coaches with fresh ideas. This is a good job, and Bret is finding out just how many out- standing coaches know that. We've had coordinators from the SEC and Big 12 show interest. We've even had some Division I head coaches express interest. Bret will be talking to a lot of them at the AFCA convention in San Antonio. He has to get to the point where he feels comfortable with the per- son that he's thinking about hiring. They have to believe in the same types of things. There has to be a good chemis- try, so that person will be a good fit within the staff, and there will be a give-and-take between all the coaches. I know that Bret has a solid list to work from and he's going to be very thorough. He's talking to a lot of good football coaches — guys that I've known through the business. It doesn't surprise me one bit that so many people have been inquiring about working here. We have a great city and univer- sity and a winning football program with a good young coach. All the outside interest just rein- forces the fact that it is a good job.