A statue of former Wisconsin coach and current athletic director Barry Alvarez stands outside the Badgers' stadium. If Ohio State were to similarly honor a football or track legend, who would it be?
Which famed Buckeye would be most deserving of having a statue in his honor outside Ohio Stadium?Cleveland, Ohio -- Ohio State, the nation's No. 1 ranked team, plays at No. 18 Wisconsin on Saturday night.
Those watching the game on ESPN with the volume turned down might wonder, "Who's that?" if they see the statue just outside the Badgers' Camp Randall stadium.
The answer would be Barry Alvarez, certainly a success as Wisconsin's football coach from 1990-2005, and the school's athletic director since.
But could have there been a Wisconsin sports great more deserving than Alvarez of being honored with a statue? After all, though the Badgers had some noteworthy moments with Alvarez, they were 118-73-4 during his 16 seasons as coach, including 65-60-3 in Big Ten games. They didn't win 49 percent of the Big Ten games that Alvarez coached!
Just to name a few, how about football legends Alan "The Horse" Ameche or Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch, or football/baseball great and former Wisconsin athletic director Pat Richter with a statue instead of Alvarez?
There is no statue of an Ohio State athlete or coach outside Ohio Stadium, for reasons likely to be covered in a story by Plain Dealer OSU beat writer Doug Lesmerises in Friday's paper. But the absence of a state begs the question: If Ohio State would choose to honor a former athlete with a statue outside the Horseshoe, who would it be? Only athletes or coaches who competed in Ohio Stadium -- football or track and field standouts -- are eligible for our poll. We have nine football candidates and one track candidate.