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Madison - Bret Bielema has coached his final football game at Wisconsin.

And athletic director Barry Alvarez may lead the team on the sideline in the Rose Bowl Jan. 1 while he searches for Bielema's replacement, according to a source close to the UW program.

Bielema agreed Tuesday to become the next head coach at Arkansas, three days after UW beat Nebraska in the Big Ten title game to earn its third consecutive Rose Bowl appearance.

Arkansas officials announced Bielema's hiring Tuesday night.

"I am very humbled and honored to become the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks," Bielema said in an Arkansas release. "During my conversation with Jeff (Long) he described the characteristics for the perfect fit to lead this program. It was evident we share the same mission, principles and goals.

"The infrastructure in place at Arkansas shows the commitment from the administration to accomplish our goals together and I am excited to begin to lead this group of student-athletes. This program will represent the state of Arkansas in a way Razorback fans everywhere will be proud of."

Alvarez released a statement Tuesday night:

"I was very surprised when Bret told me he was taking the offer from Arkansas. He did a great job for us during his seven years as head coach, both on the field and off. I want to thank him for his work and wish him the best at Arkansas.



"I have a responsibility to our student-athletes, our football family and our fans, one that I take very seriously. It is my responsibility to ensure that the football program continues at a high level, and I have already started the process of trying to find a new head coach.



"Along with finding a new coach, my other main objective is to make sure that our student-athletes, specifically our seniors playing in their final game as Badgers, have a tremendous experience in the Rose Bowl. We will do everything within our power to make that happen."



Multiple sources close to the UW program stressed athletic department officials and members of the team had no inkling Bielema was interested in leaving Madison and were stunned to learn the news Tuesday.

According to a source close to the UW program, Bielema is expected to sign a contract that will pay him more than $4 million annually at Arkansas.

He is scheduled to make $2.5 million this season at UW, including a base salary of $400,000.

A source close to the UW program said former offensive coordinator Paul Chryst, who is in his first season as the head coach at Pittsburgh, likely is Alvarez's first choice to replace Bielema.

Late Tuesday, Pittsburgh officials issued a statement from Chryst:

“I understand the speculation surrounding my name given today’s developments. I am committed to the Pitt football program and the University of Pittsburgh. I am focusing all my time and energy on our team’s bowl game preparation and recruiting a great group of young men to join our program and this outstanding university. We are working hard every day to re-establish this program and I am excited about the future of Pitt football.”



Chryst coached tight ends at UW in 2002, left to join his friend Mike Riley at Oregon State after that season but returned to UW in 2005 as offensive coordinator.



Chryst, 47, still has family in Wisconsin, including his mother, and maintains a cottage here.



Chryst took three assistants with him to Pitt – Joe Rudolph, Bob Bostad and Dave Huxtable.

Bostad was UW’s offensive line coach. Rudolph was the tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator.

Huxtable was the team’s linebackers coach.



Bostad took a job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before the season started so he wouldn’t appear to be a candidate to return to UW



Rudolph, who played at UW under Alvarez, is close friends with Chryst. He strongly considered staying at UW after Chryst took the job at Pittsburgh but decided to leave in part because of his relationship with Chryst and Bostad.



Alvarez has acknowledged he regretted allowing Chryst to leave after the 2002 season and has displayed a desire to hire coaches with strong ties to UW and the state.

Although Bielema did not return several messages Tuesday, multiple sources confirmed Bielema met Monday night in New York with Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long.



According to a source close to the program, Bielema would have liked to haved coached UW (8-5) in the Rose Bowl against No. 8 Stanford (11-2).

Bielema led UW to three consecutive Big Ten Conference titles and posted an overall record of 68-24 at Wisconsin.



The Razorbacks went 4-8 this season under John L. Smith, who was hired after Arkansas fired Bobby Petrino in April for misconduct. Petrino made $3.56 million annually as part of a seven-year contract signed in 2010.

Long has said he wanted to hire a coach with a proven track record. He reportedly tried to lure Les Miles from LSU.

Look for complete coverage of this story in our Badgers section shortly.