Badger Bits: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Trust Barry Alvarez

Jeff Potrykus quietly passed along his thoughts on the coaching search late Tuesday night. It was like he knew I was feeling frustrated with process. Or, more likely, he knew everyone was by the flood of messages crashing his inbox. His message to fans: Chill.

Hunch: Alvarez has his guy and both sides are waiting for the right time to complete the courting process.

Some fans appear to be panicking over the length of the search. Remember, it is one week old and Alvarez was criticized for not conducting a search in 2005 when he tabbed Bielema as UW's coach-in-waiting.

Whether this coaching search is going as planned may not be known until after the bowl games have ended and Alvarez reveals whether he ever had a card tucked discreetly into his shirt sleeve. I want to take Potrykus up on his hunch. I don't believe Barry is too distracted by coaching duties. I do believe he doesn't sleep. This is based solely on him sounding cool in every interview he gives. I could be completely wrong. So could you, strawman naysayer.

Keep cool. There will be a time for panic if it's justified. I, too, love to skewer public figures with my keyboard, but there's no point hitting Caps Lock just yet. In fact, there's no point doing anything at this point. A few days ago, and against our best instincts, we thought Chris Petersen was interviewing in Madison. As it turns out, the men on the beat were taken for rubes and again reduced to hunches.

There's no one to trust anymore, no where to turn, and that makes you free. Something is happening that you can't know, so just let it go. Get numb, people. Relax, clear your mind, breathe slowly ...with me ... wwwooooooosssss--Ryan Evans made two straight free throws last night--sssssshhhhhhhhhh ...

LINKS:

Barry Alvarez has interviewed two candidate already, one of whom was Mel Tucker. A third is on the way. I don't know how to react to this information any more.

The sweet words Barry Alvarez coos in the ears of recruits are working. Linebacker Garrett Dooley said Barry was "reassuring" during last weekend's official visit.

The Journal Sentinel put together a gallery of the year in touchdowns.

Greg Garmon is transferring from Iowa. What's left:

The Hawkeyes' running back depth chart is now a converted two-star wide receiver, a walk-on fullback who transferred from Air Force, and a two-star scatback who spent the season recovering from a torn ACL.

Super-conglomo-mega-conferences will earn an average of $91.75 million per year from the new playoff format and ties with traditional BCS bowls. The Big Ten and the SEC can cash in even further:

The ACC also will earn at least an additional $27.5 million annually for its ESPN contract bowl deal with the Orange. The ACC's opponent will be either Notre Dame or a team from the SEC and Big Ten. If the SEC or Big Ten places a team in the Orange Bowl, that league would earn another $27.5 million, increasing the SEC or Big Ten's playoff revenue share to $118 million.

Meanwhile, the other guys (and the Big East) will see a $17.25 million stake if they split everything evenly, almost one-seventh of what the B1G could earn in a single bowl season. Hyup.

OTE plays word association with the 2012-13 slate of bowl games, then gives the Big Ten a glimmer of hope for the coming weeks.

A 16-team playoff has Wisconsin taking on Oregon as a 13-seed.

Wrapping up: Rob Havenstein quizzes teammates. Yucks all around!