B5Q Blogopean Union: your sometimes weekly update is here

Good afternoon! This is going to be a weekly(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.

• Lawrence “L.O.” Johnson also played football at New Mexico, but we haven’t seen anything to suggest that he’ll play for the Badgers. He is a big addition to the track and field team, however, and it is nice to welcome him home to the great state of Wisconsin.

• Man, I’ll miss watching Jonathan Taylor on Saturdays.

• This is a bummer but entirely expected. Hopefully USA Hockey can figure out a virtual way to conduct these tryouts so the current, and one former, Badgers can have a chance to represent their country.

• Some good news for a former Badgers hockey player as Wyatt Kalynuk has signed a contract with the Chicago Blackhawks.

• More tough news on the “cool sporting events being cancelled” front.

• Is this the Badgers consistently punching above their weight class in men’s hoops or are they a blue blood of the last decade? Hmmm, an interesting conversation to have.

• A new D1 team in Minnesota means there is a new WCHA hockey team!

• The planned renovations of Camp Randall Stadium have been put on hold. “The project was due to begin at the conclusion of the 2020 football season and open by the start of the 2021 campaign. It is now more likely that work will begin sometime in 2021 with a target opening for the 2022 campaign.” AD Barry Alvarez also mentioned that over 75% of the new seats have been requested for season tickets by fans.

• Consistency is key to a successful operation imo.

• Grad transfer M.E. Dodge will finish her career on the beach for Texas A&M Corpus Christi. We wish her luck!

• “Chester’s Bo Ryan became a coaching legend at the University of Wisconsin. He led the Badgers to four Big 10 regular-season titles, three tournament titles and two Final Fours. The two-time national coach of the year posted a .737 winning percentage at Wisconsin from 2001-15. He also won four Division III men’s basketball championships at Wisconsin-Platteville.”

Ryan joins Kobe Bryant and many others, including tennis star who sometimes practiced in Wayne, Pennsylvania (my hometown) Lisa Raymond, in this year’s 2020 Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame class.

• Iowa is one of the few programs in the B1G that can compete with Wisconsin when it comes to churning out productive offensive linemen. Here are the best of the Kirk Ferentz era.
• Penn State’s TE Pat Freiermuth is so good that he is on the Biletnikoff Award watch list this year.
• Purdue has two (!!) wide receivers on the Biletnikoff watch list, which is pretty dang impressive.
• Former Nebraska WR JD Spielman is transferring to TCU according to reports. There was a lot of thought that he would transfer to Minnesota, but that does not appear to be the case anymore.
• Northwestern has a new offensive coordinator this year. What might their offense look like? Inside NU takes a deep film dive to find out.
• Offensive lineman Wyatt Davis of Ohio State is good. Here’s a post on why!
• Michigan wing Isaiah Livers will be returning to Ann Arbor this season after flirting with the NBA Draft.
• Indiana football suspended their team workouts due to positive COVID-19 testing results.
• Wanna get mad on a Sunday morning? Read this post about Tanner Morgan’s 2018 Axe performance and how it foreshadowed his 2019 season.
• Tom Izzo is taking a pay cut.
• Illinois bans tailgating but allows the same amount of fans for games this year as they normally would even if there wasn’t a global pandemic.