B5Q Blogopean Union: J.J. Watt is still a monster

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 (which we NO LONGER DO).

• It’s honestly kind of amazing how productive J.J. Watt has been in the NFL despite the myriad injuries he has suffered in his career.

• Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson, whose team will host UW on Friday and Saturday to open the season, called Cole Caufield “maybe the best player in the country.” Check out Todd Milewski’s recap of the Day 1 of Big Ten Hockey Media Day.
• ICYMI the Badgers are ranked No. 7 in the preseason AP Poll for men’s hoops. Season starts in two weeks and we are, uh, still waiting for the schedule to be released.

• The women’s hockey team has the first week of the season off, and after waiting so long to start that’ll be kind of tough for the Badgers.

• Nigel Hayes putback dunk!

• Iowa football has been hit hard by the transfer portal this season. Hard to know why all these players are leaving now, be it the alleged cultural issues in Iowa City or, since none of the players were on the two-deep, playing time issues.

• Might Penn State be in the market for a transfer QB for next year? Black Shoe Diaries hopes not, but isn’t ruling it out.
• While we wait for the Badgers to announce any more of their men’s basketball non-conference schedule, Nebraska has a new MTE in Lincoln and Purdue has the relocated Cancun Challenge in Florida.
• Is Northwestern ::gulp:: better than their 3-0 record indicates?
• Michigan men’s basketball got a surprise commitment from a 2021 5-star on Monday. Juwan Howard is putting together an IMPRESSIVE class for 2021 (which includes the No. 8, No. 20, No. 59, No. 64, No. 115 and No. 156 players in the nation) and has a changed approach from his 2020 class, which Maize N’ Brew discusses here.
• Greg Schiano points out how the men’s basketball team is helping his football team.
• Tom Allen celebrates HARD.
• Minnesota’s new forward Both Gach (a transfer from Utah) was granted a waiver to play this year.
• Tom Izzo tested positive for COVID-19. We hope he gets well soon.
• MSU got a big recruiting win by getting an in-state 4-star DT for the 2021 class.