B5Q Blogopean Union: it was a successful weekend

Good morning! This is going to be a daily(ish) post that discusses the goings on of the rest of the Big Ten Conference, and the country as needed. Much like the European Union, the Big Ten is a loosely confederated group of entities that sometimes have the same goals (like free movement of people between countries or not winning national titles in football or basketball) and sometimes accept new members that they later regret (Estonia or Rutgers).

We hope that you will use this post to comment on things happening around the conference and also as a sort of daily open thread to discuss breaking news or argue about Spotted Cow.

• I was all excited to share this tweet to champion the player development the Badgers do on the offensive line and then...well...you know.

• The Badgers hosted some of the nation’s best cross country teams over the weekend and UW did pretty well.

• Big weekend sweep for the men’s hockey team, which we will have more on later, but there was a lot of NHL talent on the ice for UMD and Wisconsin.

• Even Jim Rome was excited!

• Bucci is high on the Badgers too.

• J.J. Watt is a lucky man.

• After tying with Iowa earlier in the weekend, the Badgers kept a clean sheet against Nebraska on Senior Day.

• A fresh set of KenPom rankings are out for 2019-20 and that means that college basketball is right around the corner!

The B1G should be really fun this year seeing as 10 of the 14 teams are in the top-45 of these rankings. The AP Poll comes out this (Monday) morning and will also give a brief glimpse into how the season may go down.

• Rock will have more for you on Tuesday about the volleyball team, but they currently sit in first place at 8-0 in the B1G and are rolling through the competition.

• It’s a good thing the two games against LIU were played in two different arenas because I don’t think the goal lamp would still work after being lit so many times.

• BTN is really upping its game this year in regards to showing sports that aren’t football or men’s basketball. The wrestling team will be on tv six times this winter, which is pretty great for fans who can’t make it to the matches.

• Michigan State might not have any players left on their team by the end of the season. This is becoming a daily update at this point.

• The prime time, White Out Game victory over Michigan is already paying off on the recruiting trail for Penn State. QB Sean Clifford’s younger brother Liam, a 2021 3-star WR from Ohio, verbally pledged to the Nittany Lions after visiting State College.
• A 2020 3-star SG from Indiana is going to Iowa to play for Fran McCaffery.
• Northwestern’s passing offense is compared to Army’s in this post and I just...yikes.
• After reading some of the comments in the Badgers blogosphere over the weekend it seems like some would be happy if Paul Chryst skipped the game against Ohio State this week. Here is a look back at the last time a Badgers coach did that before a game against the Buckeyes.
• Michigan forward Brandon Johns Jr. will be out with a sprained ankle for the foreseeable future.
• The No. 25 Maryland men’s soccer team upset No. 6 Indiana over the weekend.
• Getting existential with Indiana football.
• Revisiting all of The Champaign Room’s writers’ picks for the Illinois/Wisconsin game somehow makes the loss all the more inexplicable. No one, and I mean no one, that follows the Illini closely thought they would even be competitive in the game, let alone win.
• Here, in the darkest timeline, we sit with undefeated Minnesota in first place in the B1G West.