All good things must come to an end.
After 16 years of pacing the sidelines at Camp Randall Stadium, Barry Alvarez is coaching his final home football game. It is difficult even to comprehend Wisconsin football without him, isn't it?
That's probably because in the years before Barry, there wasn't much about Wisconsin football worth comprehending. In 1990, Alvarez took the reigns of a program that had won three Big Ten games in the previous three seasons combined. In his introductory press conference, he announced that fans 'better get season tickets right now because before long they won't be able to.' This was a laughable statement at the time because the inept Badgers were playing before more empty seats than fans for most games'unless the visiting team's fans traveled well. But just three years later Wisconsin won the Rose Bowl, and every Big Ten conference game since has been a sellout. The Badgers have captured two additional Big Ten and Rose Bowl championships, in 1998 and 1999.
Of course, as with any high-profile program, Barry had his share of pitfalls mixed with all the successes'the Shoebox scandal in 2000 distracted a team that should have contended for a national title; the arrests of several high-profile players for various indiscretions. Oh, and let's not forget the disastrous kicking tandem of Mike Allen and Scott Campbell. Now that was unforgivable!
But Alvarez always handled any tribulations with class, and the good outweighs the bad, in Wisconsin vs. Temple proportions. Eleven bowl games in 13 years after just six bowl appearances in the previous 94 years. Ron Dayne, the second Heisman trophy winner in school history and all-time leading rusher in NCAA history. Thirty All-Americans. A $109 million stadium renovation that ensures UW-Madison will continue to have one of the top game experiences in college football for decades to come.
Yet Alvarez's legacy stretches far beyond his on-field achievements. Every aspect of sports at UW-Madison owes a debt of gratitude to Alvarez. More than anyone else, his success on the gridiron has generated revenue to drastically improve all athletic facilities, while also raising the national profile for nearly every sport this university offers. To see this effect one need only look at the consistently high national rankings every year for basketball, hockey, volleyball, crew, cross-country, track-and-field and wrestling. Except for the solid men's hockey team, which didn't even play its home games on campus, sports was an afterthought at UW-Madison when Pat Richter started his overhaul of the Athletic Department by bringing in Alvarez. But 16 years later, UW is in an unprecedented stretch of cumulative success that shows no sign of abating, especially with Barry continuing to captain the ship as athletic director.
Yes, the Barry Alvarez football era is drawing to a close. But thanks to him, all the good things in Wisconsin athletics have really just begun.
Michael Worringer is the co-editor of GameDay and can be reached for comment at
