B5Q Blogopean Union: the truth comes out about the Duke’s Mayo Bowl trophy

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).

• So the college football season is over and Alabama is national champion (again). Yeah, fine, that’s all well and good but let’s get to the real news from Monday night. GRAHAM MERTZ WAS FRAMED! Asher Low and Ben Kenney of The Badgers Wire have been banging the #MertzWasFramed drum since the end of the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and THEY WERE RIGHT!

This is shocking and quite frankly scandalous and I hope there are multiple investigative deep dives into how our quarterback, our leader, was smeared by the Duke’s Mayo Bowl and the nation.

• Legendary LA Dodgers manager, and Phillie Phanatic despiser, Tommy Lasorda passed away over the weekend. Former Badgers QB Nate Tice had a funny anecdote from UW’s Rose Bowl in 2011.

• It’ll be an upset if Jonathan Taylor wins offensive rookie of the year, due to WR Justin Jefferson’s season, but Taylor’s year should still be celebrated. Congrats on scoring in the playoffs, JT!

• I didn’t know that there was pro volleyball in the USA, so this is cool!

• Iowa waxed Minnesota in men’s hoops and despite being mostly unable to play defense look like the legit Final Four contender many thought they would be. One of the reasons they’re playing well is the reemergence of Jordan Bohannon.
• WR Wan’Dale Robinson is leaving Nebraska and entering the transfer portal. The Huskers men’s basketball team also paused team activities on Tuesday.
• One of the options that Belz listed to fill the DL coach position, Purdue’s Terrance Jamison, is off the board as Jamison went to join his former coach Bret Bielema at Illinois.
• Northwestern women’s hoops beat Iowa by, somehow, keeping Iowa freshman sensation Caitlin Clark under control.
• Ohio State got steamrolled by Alabama in the CFP Final.
• Michigan is prepared for the Badgers in tonight’s men’s hoops top-10 showdown.
• Rutgers men’s hoops is on a losing streak. How do they get out of it?
• Maryland men’s hoops owns two conference wins. At Wisconsin and at Illinois. You gotta admit that’s pretty funny.
• Bielema hires Andy Buh as LB coach at Illinois.
• Despite suffering their first loss of the season (to the Badgers!) over the weekend, the Gophers men’s hockey team is No. 1 in the country. They are joined by the women’s team, who overtook Wisconsin for the top spot.
• Lol, MSU lost to Purdue and fell out of the top-25 in men’s hoops.
• Is anyone in the conference happy with the Big Ten? An analysis.