* Wisconsin plays Auburn in this year’s Outback Bowl. The Badgers will do so with Barry Alvarez, the Wisconsin Athletic Director and former coach, filling in for departed head coach Gary Andersen, who surprisingly left to take the job at Oregon State. One of the reasons, according to Alvarez: Wisconsin’s admission standards. Not all prized recruits get in.
It’s a reminder that it’s not a level playing field. Nobody, of course, is squeaky clean in the big business of major college football and basketball, but Wisconsin, Notre Dame, Stanford, Northwestern, Virginia, Vanderbilt and a few more are like the Tampa Bay Rays of NCAA Power Five schools.
*Speaking of Power Five (SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and PAC-12) schools, here’s one key difference when compared to non-Power Five schools (such as the American Athletic Conference that USF belongs to). The Power Fives earn about $23 million annually in media-rights deals. AAC schools get approximately $8 million.