3 favorites for a hideous season, west

[StanziUSA]

I have a few Wisconsin friends and they are very level headed when it comes to their teams...both basketball and football. Obviously they have their slant...as do we...but they aren't obnoxious at all.

OTOH, I have a couple Nebraska friends who are out of control annoying and live in the Nebraska media bubble. Scott Frost and Matt Campbell are the 2 coaches who have done very little at their current schools yet are worshiped as if they're gods.

You must not live here in Madison. Cuz I know multiple level headed Nebraska fans and I would still say their fans are dog. I assure you I’ve seen more than 2 Wisconsin fans and they aren’t as level headed as you think.

 

[MoseSchrute]

While Wiscy fans aren't at the same level as Nebby fans, I can back some of this up. Badger fans were calling for Bo Ryan's head after he led them two consecutive final fours, which that program will never do again. I have also brought up in the past the holier than thou nature of Wisconsin residents compare to Iowans, which comes from the perspective of now having lived in the state for eighteen years.

I believe the liberal nature of Madison area politicians and officials was the very thing that put Badger athletics in the dark ages. While many college campuses were social outposts for anti Vietnam activity, you could still see remnants of that in Madison well into the 1980's. It was hard for the university to get cooperation with state legislature and it trickled down to athletics. By 1990 seven sports had been cut from the athletic budget and the basketball team played in an outdated facility. Wisconsin athletics were a mess.

Barry Alvarez had to do more than revive the football team when he arrived. He had to reverse negative attitudes toward athletics in general.

So you're saying things are gonna get good for us again when Barry retires.

 

[Northside Hawk]

So you're saying things are gonna get good for us again when Barry retires.

Barry's always had a knack for being in the right place at the right time. His supreme self confidence probably has something to do with that. And it was not easy to make that lateral move from Iowa to Notre Dame, where Lou Holtz could promise what Hayden couldn't-a fair shot at defensive coordinator. But he had the balls to do it.

His high school state championship at Mason City in 1978 was well timed because an unusual amount of NCAA jobs would soon open up all over the Midwest and not just at Iowa and Iowa State. Notre Dame's NCAA championship roughly a decade later, with Alvarez as defensive coordinator, was also well timed and would soon be parlayed into the HC job at Wisconsin. He would catch another break when he snagged Bernie Wyatt to recruit the east coast that had previously been pretty much off limits to Wisconsin.

As for when he retires as AD one would have to expect some regression and it may already be happening in football and men's hoops. Maybe a return to Dave McClain type teams where they would play in decent bowl games in their best years and where Iowa would beat them a little more consistently.

 

[SmokeTownHawk]

Barry certainly has had the charmed life with parlaying one high school state title to a ticket upwards and beyond. A perfect example for the book, Outliers.