B5Q Blogopean Union: women’s soccer team wins a thriller

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 Nebraska).

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).

• The NFL season opened up on Thursday night and the Dallas Cowboys lost on a last second field goal. It was amazing. The only bad thing was that it meant Tom Brady won, but nothing is perfect. We, as we have had in the past, will have weekly updates on the Badgers in the NFL.

• Speaking of the NFL! T.J. Watt signed a new contract on Thursday and is now the highest paid defensive player in the league. Shit like this is important to recruits so it is something you love to see. Congrats to T.J. for securing the bag.

• Behind another standout performance from goalie Jordyn Bloomer and a late double OT goal from Natalie Viggiano, the Badgers beat in-state rivals Milwaukee 2-1 on Thursday night. This marked the third-straight game that has gone into OT this season for the Badgers. UW is now 1-1-2 in overtime through seven games this season.

• We need to figure out how NIL actually works so we can make these shirts with Dana Rettke.

• We aren’t going to have a full post on Paul Chryst’s Thursday press conference but here is an interesting excerpt when he was asked about RB Jalen Berger earning snaps and getting on the field this week.

• There is nothing more embarrassing than paying to lose a football game, so the Badgers better keep that in mind on Saturday night.

• The men’s hockey team is going to have a lot of new faces this season, it took three tweets worth on the team’s account to get all of the pictures up, and I’m excited to see how they all mesh together.

• Even if you aren’t able to go to the volleyball match on Friday night you should probably wear red. If you ARE able to go...you must wear red. It is the actual law.

• An exhaustive list of Iowa State’s wins as a top-10 program ahead of their huge rivalry game with Iowa.
• Is the linebacker position going the way of the dinosaur?
• I know our friend Bob Wiedenhoeft has been waiting for the return of this column at Inside NU, but you may also be interested in how Hunter Johnson performed in Week 1. Hunter’s Heaves is back!
• While Nebraska volleyball is undefeated on the season, they hadn’t really looked impressive yet. That changed on Wednesday night as they swept Creighton right out of Omaha.
• Michigan WR Ronnie Bell is out for the year. Who does OC Josh Gattis think needs to step up in Bell’s place?
• In-state rivals Princeton scored three straight goals in the second half to upset No. 9 Rutgers 4-3 in women’s soccer on Thursday night.
• Maryland will open the season as the No. 4 ranked team in the country according to an NCAA preseason ranking of women’s hoops teams.
• How does Illinois bounce back from their loss to UTSA last Saturday?
• Behind the numbers of Indiana’s decimation at the hands of Iowa last weekend.
• USA Olympic hero and future WWE wrestler Gable Steveson is coming back for his senior year at Minnesota. NIL is doing some pretty cool stuff already!