Athletic director Barry Alvarez carries a big stick after 26 years at UW, but he doesn’t set the tone regarding the importance of athletics on campus. He doesn’t decide how lenient the admissions department should be with athletes, the chancellor does. And even if UW could have found the money, it wouldn’t have been a good look for the football program to give its defensive coordinator a $780,000 raise at a time when the school’s budget is being squeezed by the state.

How does that affect UW athletics? Take the two examples mentioned earlier.

Unlike football players Craig Evans and Jordan Stevenson, who committed to UW but weren’t admitted to school and ended up playing for Michigan State and Nebraska, respectively, Stone wasn’t denied entry into UW. Nor was he admitted. Sources said Stone wanted to play for UW but the admissions department was waiting to see if there was an upward trend in his academics before making a decision, causing Stone to become frustrated with the process and pull the plug.

Aranda loved Madison, but the lure of coaching in the SEC, a salary in the top 10 nationally and the three-year guarantee were more than he could turn down. Alvarez said he made a counter-offer, but for a variety of reasons UW can’t pay SEC-style money to a coordinator at this time. A glance around the Big Ten shows UW is not alone.