B5Q Blogopean Union: is Lovie Smith scared of playing in front of you?

Good morning! This is going to be a daily 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.

• The Week 2 kickoff times for the Big Ten were announced on Monday morning and the Badgers will do battle with Nebraska, on Halloween no less, at 2:30 p.m. CST on FS1.

• Practicing basketball in masks does NOT sound like fun, but college athletes are probably also in a bit better shape than I am so maybe it doesn’t bother them as much.

• LMAO, Iowa has now had a player decommit from them TWICE in their 2021 football class. His most recent decommitment appears to stem from the race issues that are surrounding the program.
• Adrian Martinez won the QB job at Nebraska. I feel like opposing fans should probably be happier about this than Huskers fans.
• As I was writing this post, new broke that Penn State RB Journey Brown could miss the whole season due to “a medical condition discovered during the off-season.”
• A new Brohm is going to be coaching the Boilermakers this weekend because the old Brohm has COVID-19.
• Michigan WR Nico Collins is no longer listed on the UM roster. It appears he will be remaining opted out for this season.
• Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck wouldn’t say how many, but he implied that a number of Gophers would not be available for Saturday’s game due to COVID-19.
• Rutgers has two quarterbacks which, as the old axiom goes, means that have zero!
• What did Illinois head coach Lovie Smith have to say ahead of the game against Wisconsin?

• The Gophers have a new offense. Will it be as dynamic as last season’s?