B5Q Blogopean Union: Stevens Point produces top athletes like Cole Caufield and my dad

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 kids, they are excited that basketball is coming back soon. It could be a long season in terms of actual wins, but it should be fun in terms of watching players develop and shouting at referees.

• The weekend of the Army football game, the Army men’s hockey team will also be in Madison. There has, however, been a slight change of plans as the series is moved up a day.

• The second most famous athlete to come from Stevens Point, after my dad, is doing pretty well for himself in the NHL. Hopefully they have more Caufield jerseys in stock for this season and I can imagine this will be a particularly hot item for the Crease Creatures.

• Paul Chryst had his end of week press conference on Thursday and it sounds like the defense will be at full strength for Saturday. That’s good to hear because this game should be a defensive battle and Wisconsin can now deploy their full complement of weapons.

• Love to see Quintez Cephus thriving in the NFL.

• The women’s soccer team might never lose again! J.J. will obviously go more in-depth on this, but Big Ten favorite Penn State also lost to Northwestern on Thursday night so the conference title race is well and truly on.

• Barry Alvarez, remember that guy?

• The women’s hoops team SHOULD be better this year and is definitely building towards something better eventually so get your season tickets now and get in on the ground floor.

• The nice thing about losing to a good team early in the season is that they’ll probably cheer for you the rest of the season so their win looks better. Anyway, here’s is Black Shoe Diaries Big Ten weekend preview!
• We mentioned that Northwestern women’s soccer upset Penn State on Thursday night, but here is how they were doing leading up to that match.
• Michigan’s offensive line makeover has been a huge part of their early season success.
• A very important preview of Notre Dame/Wisconsin from One Foot Down.
• The Badgers volleyball team plays Rutgers this weekend. Here is how their season has gone so far.
• Maryland football’s quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa is showing improved decision making this year.
• Illinois should let the kids play!