This is the year of the playoff. The BCS has died and gone away. Now instead of objective computers mixed with subjective polls, we have moved to a group of people who will subjectively select the four best teams in the country, based on their opinion. It will certainly not end all the debate and bellyaching at the end of the season as coaches and fans state their case for why their team should be included over a different team. Will it be better? We don’t know yet. Let’s take a look at who will be making the decisions.

Committee Memebers:

Jeff Long – Chairman
Barry Alvarez – AD Wisconsin
Lieutenant General Mike Gould – Former Superintendent Air Force Academy
Pat Haden – AD University of Southern California
Tom Jernstedt- Former NCAA Executive Vice President
Oliver Luck – AD West Virginia
Archie Manning – Legend
Tom Osborne – Also Legend
Dan Radakovich – AD Clemson
Condoleezza Rice – Stanford Professor, Former Secretary of State
Mike Tranghese – Former Big East Commissioner
Steve Weiberg – Former USA Today CFB writer
Tyrone Willingham – Former Head Coach

This week we’ll take a look at Barry Alvarez, Athletic Director at Wisconsin:

Alvarez began his time in college football as a linebacker for the University of Nebraska. He didn’t go far for his first coaching job, staying in Lincoln as the assistant coach at Lincoln Nebraska High School. His next two stops were both head coaching jobs at High Schools. First at Lexington High School in Lexington, Nebraska then Mason City High School in Mason, Iowa. He entered the collegiate ranks as an assistant coach for the University of Iowa from 1979 to 1986. In 1987 he moved on to Notre Dame, where he was an assistant until 1989. He got his first head coaching job at the University of Wisconsin in 1990. He remained there through 2005 winning numerous coaching awards. In 1993 he was the Big Ten Coach of the Year, as well as the National Coach of the Year. He won the Big Ten Coach of the Year award again in 1998 and the National Coach of the Year award again in 1999. In 2004 he had dual roles as both Head Coach and Athletics Director. Beginning in 2005, he moved completely to the Athletic Director role, except for coaching in the 2012 season. He was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010. He has amassed 38 years of college football experience from his days as a player to his current role as athletic director. He is the winningest coach in University of Wisconsin history.

Hot Seat Questions We Would Totally Ask If We Had A Sponsored Hot Seat Segment:
*answers are what we think they would probably say when given the chance

How do you plan on being objective when selecting teams for the playoff?
Objective? I didn’t realize we were supposed to be objective. I though the committee was to be comprised of enough people that we could just all be biased and just figure out a way to settle on some teams. Did you see Wisconsin play LSU? Based on that alone they are in the conversation for a playoff spot.

What made you decide to go back to coaching while you were the AD?
I mean, any time you have the opportunity to pay yourself, you’ve got to take it, right? Listen, those type of opportunities don’t come up that often. So when it came up, I jumped at the chance to get back on the field

Is there anyone you are looking forward to debating with about who should get in?
I’m really excited to talk up the Big 10. It is consistently the best conference in the nation, and it’s about time people realized it. I’m tired of all the hate, so I’m going to take this opportunity to show our conference can play with the big boys.