Bowl Buzz: For Alvarez, it’s still early in the process
November 04, 2017 | Football, Andy Baggot
A weekly look at bowl projections for the Badgers
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BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. — By the time Barry Alvarez sat down for the first official meeting of the College Football Playoff committee in October of 2014, he had already gotten a lay of the land.
Alvarez knew a majority of the other 12 members from his time as Wisconsin football coach and director of athletics and gotten familiar with the unfamiliar faces during multiple get-acquainted meetings.
One of those get-togethers was a rehearsal — a mock meeting — to go over the ins and outs of piecing together the inaugural CFP rankings and how they would ultimately determine the four schools that would play for the national championship.
Now, three years later, Alvarez is watching the committee from a different angle as it seeks to identify the latest round of CFP semifinalists.
His tour of duty has ended. He's given some of his notes and paperwork to Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith, the latest Big Ten Conference representative to the selection group.
Alvarez was happy for the experience on the prestigious committee — Ohio State, Alabama and Clemson ultimately won titles on his watch — but he does not miss its unique grind.
"No," he said quickly and forcefully, mindful of the weekly two-day trips to Dallas, Texas, to meet and hash out the rankings.
When the first CFP rankings of the 2017 season were released Tuesday, Alvarez reacted with a sense of knowing because the methodology for assembling a list of the top 25 teams hasn't been altered.
"It was all laid out how it was going to be run, how we would go through the meeting, how we would vote and how we would come back and double-check," he said.
"It's going to be run the same way. Nothing's going to change."
Which helps explain Alvarez's reaction to the Badgers being slotted ninth despite an 8-0 overall record, despite being ranked fourth in the Amway coaches' poll and Associated Press media ranking.
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Surprised?
"Not really," Alvarez said, mindful of the fact six one-loss teams were situated ahead of UW. "And it doesn't make that much difference."
Georgia and Alabama, both unbeaten, and one-loss Notre Dame and Clemson are the top four teams.
Oklahoma, Ohio State, Penn State and TCU are the other one-loss schools slotted ahead of UW.
If the season ended today, the Badgers would be in line for a host of high-profile bowls.
In their weekly projections, individual ESPN forecasters have UW facing Stanford or Washington in the Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 30 in Glendale, Arizona, or Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl on Dec. 29 in Arlington, Texas.
Sports Illustrated also had Wisconsin matched against Washington in the Fiesta, while CBS Sports projects an assignment with Southern California.
Meanwhile, SB Nation has the Badgers pitted against Central Florida in the Peach Bowl on Jan. 1 in Atlanta.
Alvarez had his own unique evaluation process, ranking the top 30 according to data in six categories: relative scoring offense, relative scoring defense, points per play, turnover margin, average field position and strength of schedule.
"Total them and you can see how some of (the teams) jump out at you," he said.
The Badgers are ninth mainly because they haven't played a ranked opponent and may not over the last four games of the regular season.
"You have your criteria, the things that are most important, and I've felt all along the most important thing was quality wins," Alvarez said.
At one point Alvarez mentioned that Mississippi State was No. 1 in the first poll three years ago. The Bulldogs didn't make the final four.
The message: There's a long way to go and a lot can happen.
