Barry Alvarez

Cupcakes are out. Compelling matchups are in. "We want to get out of the business," Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said, "of scheduling games that feel like scrimmages to our fans." To that end, the Big Ten will begin playing nine...

You have to applaud the University of Wisconsin for taking the non-conference scheduling ball and running with it now that the college football landscape has finally changed. Since the four-team playoff was approved and strength of schedule became a key...

Baltimore Sun reporters Don Markus and Jeff Barker and editor Matt Bracken weigh in on the three biggest topics of the past week in Maryland sports. Given the 2014 schedule announced Thursday by the Big Ten, how tough will Maryland’s road back...

Not to dis Mickey Mouse, but Big Ten officials know their fans don't want to go to Orlando every year. Or Tampa. Or Houston. There is one exception. "Pasadena," Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said. So to combat the bowl fatigue that affects...

Geography is the new Big Ten buzzword. First it was the new 2014 football division names, embracing East and West, and now it's spilling into the revised bowl plan. As the Big Ten athletic directors meet Tuesday and today at the Sofitel hotel in...

Given that attendance at the Big Ten football championship game torpedoed – from 64,152 in the inaugural game to 41,260 last year – moving the game out of Indianapolis after 2015 could become a hot topic. But Wisconsin athletic director...

First impressions, second thoughts and the third degree: What's the use of instant replay in Major League Baseball if it's not going to be applied properly? A notoriously arrogant umpire, Angel Hernandez, created all sorts of issues last week when...

Tim Beckman faced a dilemma on the 14th hole at Olympia Fields' North Course: lay up or try to fly it 160 yards from the right rough to clear the scrub area. "You know me," the Illinois football coach said. "I'm not going to play it dang short." At...

From Auburn to Western Michigan – the coaching carousel was in overdrive as 30 different Football Bowl Subdivision jobs were vacated and filled this offseason. Each day this week, we will debut a new coach who will make an impact in 2013-14....

Former University of Wisconsin running back Ron Dayne might have been the only person who didn't think his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, the first time his name was on the ballot, was a sure thing. While the official announcement...

Talks between Wisconsin and Southeastern Conference power Alabama dragged on for several years before the two programs eventually agreed to open the 2015 college football season at Cowboys Stadium. Encouraged by that agreement and looking to bolster UW'...

The Southeastern Conference needs to go on a diet. Forget the cabbage. Put away the watermelon. Leave the grapefruit for the health nuts. What the SEC needs to avoid is the cupcakes. Not the sugary sweet ones that you find next to the deli at the...