B5Q Blogopean Union: Badgers in the NFL are having a moment

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).

• With the NFL Playoffs upon us it is important to note that in the last week of the regular season Jonathan Taylor was the best player in the league.

• And also that T.J. Watt had the most sacks of any player in the league.

• The WCHA named Wisconsin defenseman Grace Bowlby the defender of the week for last week’s performance.

• An interesting look at who is taking, and making, good shots. The Badgers are in the “good shooters, bad shots” quadrant but not so far into the “bad shots” portion as to be too worried.

• This photo of gold medalist Cole Caufield is hilarious.

• Micah Potter has been pretty impressive on offense so far this year. If only there was some way to combine his offense with Nate Reuvers’ defense and create some sort of super big man!

• Wrestling starts for Wisconsin next weekend! The Badgers are ranked No. 20 (No. 9 in the Big Ten!) preseason in the NWCA Poll. You may notice that four of the top five teams in the country are in the Big Ten which...yikes...gonna be a fun season!

• Speaking of wrestling! Nebraska beat Minnesota in a battle of top-15 teams.
• Iowa waxed Maryland in men’s hoops on Thursday.
• Former Minnesota OC Kirk Ciarrocca is out at Penn State after only one season and is replaced by Mike Yurich from Texas.
• Northwestern was up 15 over No. 12 Illinois at halftime in men’s hoops...then the Cats scored 13 points in the second half and lost by 25.
• Purdue miraculously beats No. 23 Michigan State by one on Friday night. And here is the view from the MSU side.
• A roundup of some National Title game news before Ohio State takes on Alabama.
• Jim Harbaugh agreed to a preposterous contract with Michigan and it feels like we’ll just be back here again in a couple of years discussing whether or not this Michigan Man is the right man for the job.
• A season preview for Rutgers wrestling.
• No. 12 Maryland beat No. 23 Michigan State in women’s hoops in a closely contested game.
• Yup, Illinois really outscored Northwestern by 40 points in the second half of that game.
• Indiana WR Ty Fryfogle is coming back for one more year to terrorize Big Ten defenses.