Things I know, and things I think I know:
Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez speaks with pride about his Nebraska football roots.
He talks of his deep respect for Bob Devaney and the former Nebraska head coach's rugged style of play. Alvarez played linebacker for Devaney during the mid-1960s. Then, as a high school coach, including a stint as head coach at Lexington High School (1974-75), Alvarez used the sophisticated strength and conditioning program that started at NU under Devaney.
"My foundation is Nebraska," Alvarez, raised in a coal-mining town near Pittsburgh, once told me. "I grew up in an area that favored blue-collar, hard-nosed football.