Badger Bits: Barry Alvarez's stance on a college football playoff

When it comes to the college football landscape, change is in the air. And I'm not just talking about West Virginia making the leap from the Big East to the Big 12. I'm talking about the much-maligned Bowl Championship Series finally looking into changing the way college football's champion is crowned. Big Ten conference commissioner Jim Delany has changed his stance and is now in favor of the "plus-one" playoff structure, something he was publicly against as recently as December. When it comes to fixing college football's broken football system, Delany and the other conference commissioners have pretty much all the power.

So what does Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez want Delany to hold out for when he's busy discussing playoff formats with the other commissioners? Alvarez discusses what he wants and doesn't want to see in a new playoff system in a column in the Feb. 9th Varsity online magazine:

• The Big Ten needs to protect its exclusive relationship with the Rose Bowl.
• A plus-one with semifinal games on campus sites would level the playing field. Alvarez feels SEC teams have an advantage with most bowl games occurring in their part of the country.
• He is open to anything that enhances the college football product, but doesn't want to dilute the regular season.

Alvarez's final point seems to indicate that's he not thrilled by the possibility of a 16-team playoff bracket. With respect to the first point, keeping the Rose Bowl tied to the Big Ten could be tricky, because some people want Pasadena to host the national championship game every year. Delany will have to work with the other conference commissioners to come up with a compromise every conference can agree to. Delany will try his hardest to get the ideal setup for the Big Ten in the new playoff format, but sometimes you have to give something up to get something better.

Wednesday's Links:

So Wisconsin wants to beat Michigan State at Breslin tomorrow night, eh? Hasn't happened since 2004. Winning the rebounding battle might be the key to getting over the hump. (Also, did Jordan Taylor actually refer to Michigan State's big guys as "bohemians" in his quote? That would be absolutely hilarious if he did, but I'm sure he actually said or meant to say "behemoths.")

Want to hear what Ron Zook said about the Meyer-Bielema showdown? Sure ya do.

Wisconsin football and basketball ticket prices are going up next year. There are now three different price levels for the football games, and Illinois will be the only home Big Ten opponent not in the highest price level. There's your bulletin-board material for next year, Illini fans.

Wisconsin hockey is about to wave goodbye to the Bob Johnson Hockey Facility, Kelly Erickson of the Badger Herald writes.

The ESPN Big Ten blog says that Kevin Zeitler was the 20th best Big Ten player in 2011. Brian Bennett wanted to emphasize that offensive guards don't normally end up on these types of lists.

Former All-American Wisconsin goaltender Kirk Daubenspeck was in a serious car accident that put him in an extended coma on Feb. 17th, 2011, my 21st birthday. On my 22nd birthday, he will be an honorary captain and will drop the ceremonial first puck for Wisconsin vs. Denver at the Kohl Center. He has made incredible strides over the past year. I'm glad he can be there for his beautiful family.