Rick Pizzo of BTN reports that Bret Bielema knew at least two weeks ago that he was leaving Wisconsin. The news obviously just broke on Tuesday afternoon after a seemingly insignificant amount of rumors over the past week or so.

#Badgers source also tells me #bretbielema knew at least two weeks ago that he was leaving, but was weighing "a couple" SEC schools.

— Rick Pizzo (@BTNRickPizzo) December 4, 2012

That would seemingly suggest Bielema might've been in play for the jobs at Auburn and Tennessee, though there could obviously be other possibilities.

Bielema reportedly held a team meeting on Sunday to address the rumors, though it's unclear whether he told the team outright that he would be leaving. Either way, Pizzo's source says Bielema was "uncharacteristically emotional" during the meeting.

Perhaps most surprisingly, Wisconsin Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez reportedly knew Bielema would be leaving prior to the end of the regular season.

#Badgers source tells me Barry Alvarez was also aware of #bretbielema plans to leave prior to end of regular season.

— Rick Pizzo (@BTNRickPizzo) December 4, 2012