BARRY ALVAREZ

Wisconsin has fired head coach Paul Chryst after a 2-3 start to his eighth season leading his alma mater.

Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren had a chance to take a victory lap this week at Big Ten media day.

Cornelius Johnson caught both of Cade McNamara’s touchdown passes and No. 14 Michigan remained unbeaten with a 38-17 victory over Wisconsin, which lost starting quarterback Graham Mertz to a chest injury.

Big 12 Media Days Football Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian walks on stage behind mannequins wearing Texas and Oklahoma uniforms during the NCAA college football Big 12 media days Thursday, July 15, 2021, in Arlington, Texas. One day after word of the discussions surfaced, the ripple effects across the sport were clear as schools far from the Big 12 and SEC tried to sort out where this is going. The Big 12 was thought to be on life support about a decade ago after losing Nebraska, Colorado, Texas A&M and Missouri. Eventually, it lured Nebraska away from the Big 12. ___Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at https://APpodcasts.com___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25Copyright 2021 The Associated Press.

Big 12 leaders held a call without Texas and Oklahoma on Thursday to discuss how to keep the league’s flagship schools from bolting to the Southeastern Conference — and contingency plans to survive without them.

MADISON, Wis. — (AP) — Wisconsin appears close to hiring a successor to longtime athletic director Barry Alvarez. The Wisconsin Board of Regents plans to hold a closed session Wednesday to consider an employment agreement and compensation for a new athletic director, the University of Wisconsin System said in a news release Tuesday. Peter Miller, the chair of Wisconsin’s athletic board, was heading the search committee to pick the new athletic director. Alvarez arrived at Wisconsin in 1990 as football coach and became athletic director in 2004. He briefly served in a dual role before stepping down as football coach after the 2005 season.

Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez is retiring after a three-decade run in which he transformed the university’s football program and later guided the Badgers to their greatest all-around sports success in school history.

Bielema is returning to the Big Ten and his home state to coach Illinois. Illinois hired the former Wisconsin and Arkansas coach, hoping he can turn around a program with nine straight losing seasons. Illinois said Bielema will receive a six-year contract with an annual salary starting at $4.2 million, and begin work immediately. He became the third coach in NCAA history to win 12 games in his rookie season when Wisconsin went 12-1 in 2006. In January, the New York Giants and new head coach Joe Judge hired Bielema as outside linebackers coach and senior assistant.

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin has canceled Saturday's home game against Purdue, the second straight game the 10th-ranked Badgers have called off as COVID-19 cases within their team continue to rise. Ten players and 11 staffers have tested positive over the last seven days. This marks the second straight week that Wisconsin has canceled a football game due to the outbreak. They called that game off on Oct. 28, the same day they announced that coach Paul Chryst had tested positive. This second cancellation gives Wisconsin little room for error in its quest to reach a second straight conference championship game.

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez says the total number of positive COVID-19 cases within the Badgers’ football program has increased to 22. Alvarez told ESPN’s “College GameDay” on Saturday that 12 football players and 10 staffers have tested positive. School officials updated that number Thursday by saying two more staffers and one additional player had tested positive. The Thursday update indicated the football program had a total of 16 active cases, and that 15 of them had come since Oct. 24. School officials also said Saturday that the 22 active cases include seven confirmed positive tests (five players, two staffers) since that Thursday update.

9 Wisconsin canceled its game at Nebraska and paused team activities for at least a week after a dozen people in the program — including coach Paul Chryst — tested positive for COVID-19. Alvarez said the team had only one positive test two days before Friday's season-opening 45-7 victory over Illinois and 12 positive tests afterward. Alvarez said Wisconsin had reached the “orange/red” levels in the Big Ten protocols based on its rate of positive tests. The announcement followed reports that quarterback Graham Mertz had tested positive twice – which would require him to sit out at least 21 days under Big Ten protocols – and that backup quarterback Chase Wolf had tested positive at least once. “We’ll see where we are as far as testing, and we’ll make that decision as we move closer to the game,” Alvarez said.

For weeks, Trump allied himself with the effort. He publicly and privately prodded the conference to reverse its Aug. 11 decision to play football next spring. When the conference announced Wednesday it would begin play Oct. 23 under strict coronavirus prevention protocols, Trump was eager to capitalize politically. Big Ten officials cited improvement in same-day coronavirus testing capabilities as a key factor in their reversal. Let’s get back in the game,” flashes on the screen amid images of empty stadiums at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and elsewhere.

Wisconsin coach Paul Chryst said before a spring football season is planned, there has to be a discussion about fall 2021. He said conversations about a spring football season have been minimal, but there has been a theme. If the NFL does nothing to accommodate spring college football some of the sure-things are almost certain to leave. There is so much to sort out, including the NCAA signing off on a spring football season. At this point in time, we'll see.__Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.westwoodonepodcasts.com/pods/ap-top-25-college-football-podcast/___More AP college football: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

The NCAA on Friday encouraged its 1,100 member colleges and universities to give athletes the day off from sports on election day, responding to grassroots movements of activism from players and coaches. UCLA followed with a similar announcement and Wisconsin said Friday it would also skip athletic activities on election day. The NCAA did not mandate a day off for athletes on election day. Instead, the NCAA encouraged schools to assist students in registering to vote and to give them a day off from athletics to vote. Though MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher released a statement Friday saying the schools, conference and ESPN will work to move the game to a different date,The Division I college basketball season will start about a week after election day.