Nick Saban Tale of the Tape: Barry Alvarez

In Big Ten country, Barry Alvarez is considered a legend. He turned a fledgling Wisconsin program into a three-time conference champion, and in the process became the only coach in league history to win consecutive Rose Bowls (1998-99).

He was a unanimous selection for the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010, and in 2021 Wisconsin named the playing field inside Camp Randall Stadium, Barry Alvarez Field.

Alabama recently did something similar for Nick Saban, and in December he'll be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. But that's about where the comparisons end.

As part of its continuing effort to put Saban's dynasty run at Alabama into perspective, this season Alabama Crimson Tide On SI and BamaCentral will post a Tape of the Tape with the best coach in the history of each Football Bowl Subdivision opponent. With Wisconsin that's clearly Alvarez, the only coach in program history to top 100 wins (119–73–4). Bret Bielema, 2006-12 (68-24) is second in program wins, ahead of Paul Chryst, 2015-2022 (67-26); Phil King, 65-11-1 (1896-1902, 1905), and Milt Bruhn, 52-45-6 (1956-66), while Ivy Williamson, 41-19-4 (1949-55) deserves a mention as well.

Most of Wisconsin's history includes coaches like Harry Stuhldreher, who is better remembered for being one of the Four Horsemen at Notre Dame. He had a winning record only four times during his 13 years as the Badgers' head coach (1936-48).

Per the College Football Hall of Fame, when Alvarez retired he and Ohio State coach Woody Hayes were the only two coaches to win three Rose Bowls. It should be noted, though, that both conferences involved in the Rose Bowl had a "no repeat" policy until 1972, meaning that no team could return to play in Pasadena in consecutive years.

Alvarez was known for 1999 Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne, developing big, powerful offensive linemen, and two National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athletes (Jim Leonhard and Joe Thomas). He won numerous national coach of the year honors including Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year and the AFCA National Coach of the Year, and served on many NCAA committees.

Before he came back as an interim head coach for Wisconsin's bowl game at the end of the 2012 and 2014 seasons, Alvarez set a record as having the highest all-time bowl winning percentage (.727) for coaches with at least 11 bowl appearances. He was also the Badgers' athletic dircetor from 2004-21.

Nick Saban vs. Barry Alvarez

Category, Nick Saban; Barry Alvarez

Seasons                                   28; 18
Consensus national titles       7; 0
Top 5 finishes                         13; 1
Overall record             292-71-1; 119–73–4
Winning percentage            .804; .609
Losing seasons                     0; 5
CFP/Bowl record                19-12; 9-4
CFP/Bowl percentage          .613; .692
Conference titles                  12; 3
Conference record     175-47-1; 65-60-3
Consensus All-Americans   52; 7*
First-round draft picks          52; 8*

Record against ranked teams 104-48; 26-38-1
Winning percentage against ranked teams .684; .408
Record against Top 10 teams 48-25; 6-18-1
Winning percentage against Top 10 teams .658; .260

Ratio: National title seasons: One every 4.0 seasons; NR
Ratio: Consensus All-Americans: 1.86 every season; 2.6
Ratio: First-round NFL draft picks: 1.86 every season; 2.25
Average wins vs. ranked teams: 3.7 every season; 1.4
Wins over top-10 teams per season: 1.7 every season; .36

*Alvarez coached one bowl game in each 2012 and 2014. He's not credited for All-Americans or first-round draft picks for those seasons.

Tale of the Tape will regularly appear on Alabama Crimson Tide On Si/BamaCentral through the 2025 and 2026 college football seasons. Christopher Walsh is the author of the 2014 book "Nick Saban vs. College Football: The Case for College Football's Greatest Coach."