Varsity - The Official Digital Magazine of Wisconsin Athletics

Varsity - October 17, 2013

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

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W THE VOICE BY MATT LEPAY // VOICE OF THE BADGERS Committee a year away, so Badgers must win e are one year away from the four-team College Football Playoff, but there is no shortage of talk about it, especially as reports surfaced with the names of those who will make up the selection committee. One name in particular raised some eyebrows. That name would be Condoleezza Rice, the former U.S. Secretary of State. I will admit to a bit of surprise. Not because of gender, but rather because Rice is not directly involved in the sport. Like many of us, I expected the committee to be made up of former players, coaches, administrators and perhaps a media member or two. After giving it about five seconds of thought, I believe that Rice's involvement is not just interesting, but also sound. This is no attempt at making a political statement. I just tend to believe that Rice can process information and bring solid reasoning to a discussion involving the best teams in college football. I would guess the ability to process information was a rather important skill in her previous jobs. There will always be questions about any selection committee, but I have to believe it will be a step forward from the current system. I do believe the BCS era will go down as an improvement from the previous method. While flawed and tweaked along the way, the Bowl Championship Series generated a ton of interest, created some 18 // VARSITY October 17, 2013 memorable games, and of course gave fans, writers and broadcasters plenty to talk about. This weekend we will see the first BCS standings of the season. A projected ranking from Jerry Palm of CBS Sports has the Badgers at No. 29. Currently, Wisconsin is rated 26th in both the USA Today Coaches Poll as well as the Harris Poll. At the risk of overreacting, I wonder whether the selection committee might have a more favorable I WOULD LIKE TO BELIEVE THAT SHOULD THIS TEAM GO ON A RUN THE REST OF THE WAY, THE COACHES AND HARRIS POLL VOTERS WILL DO SOMETHING THE COMPUTERS ARE UNABLE TO DO − TAKE ANOTHER LONG, HARD LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED IN TEMPE. opinion of the home team. The record says the Badgers are 4-2, but nearly every neutral observer is putting an asterisk on the Arizona State game. While calling last Saturday's tilt against Northwestern, ABC/ESPN broadcaster Sean McDonough said he considered Wisconsin a one-loss team. That one defeat would be the seven-point setback at Ohio State, currently rated fourth in the Harris Poll, third in the coaches poll and fifth in Palm's projected BCS standings. The Badgers just dismantled a Northwestern team that came to town ranked in the top 20 of both major polls. Yet, to this point it is not enough to impress the current pollsters into believing Wisconsin is top-25 material. There is a month and a half remaining in the regular season, so it is a bit early to press the panic button. But keep in mind to be considered for an at-large birth to a BCS bowl, a team must finish in the top 14 of the final BCS standings. That is important to note. We keep hearing that the goal of the BCS is to determine the two teams that will play for the national title, but the current system also can help determine the other big-boy bowl matchups. There are a thousand and one things that can happen between now and the end of the regular season. Yes, one more loss would likely knock out the Badgers from any BCS bowl consideration. However, I would like to believe that should this team go on a run the rest of the way, the coaches and Harris poll voters will do something the computers are unable to do ― take another long, hard look at what happened in Tempe. Hopefully that will occur. Yet to be honest, I will be more confident next year, when a committee made up of very smart individuals will process information, discuss it and make reasonable decisions based on sound evidence.

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