B5Q Blogopean Union: happy Labor Day

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 biggest news in Wisconsin Badgers sports on Sunday was, uh, the play of Notre Dame’s quarterback Jack Coan. The former UW signal caller went 26-of-35 for 366 yards, four touchdowns and one pick (on a Hail Mary to be fair) and looked like an All-America contender. It should be noted that there was no real path forward for Coan at Wisconsin and him transferring was best for both parties. I think the mature thing (not normally my style, but alas) is to cheer for Coan in every game this year except one.

• The men’s soccer team lost to DePaul 1-0 on Sunday. They are now 0-2-2 on the season and have only scored twice in four games. While the Blue Demons aren’t a bunch of farmers out there, they are a team that the Badgers shouldn’t lose to. I asked J.J. what tying Western Michigan on Thursday was like in college football terms and he basically said that it was like losing to an FCS team.

• The women’s soccer team had a nil-nil draw on Sunday against Baylor, Jordyn Bloomer’s third straight clean sheet, and sit at 3-1-2 on the season. Bloomer, an all-Big Ten goalie, is having an excellent season between the sticks for UW with four shutouts already.

• Mark Titus and Charlotte Wilder of FOX Sports were in Madison all weekend for the football game against Penn State and watching Wilder’s reaction to the band is a fun way to start your week. She wrote about the band right here.

• God, Jump Around is so much fun.

• Watching Cole Caufield and Ryan McDonagh watch a play from last season’s Eastern Conference Final where McDonagh trips Caufield is, quite honestly, very funny.

• It’s always nice to see the best team on campus get recognized in front of a huge crowd.

• Speaking of celebrating awesome accomplishments from last year in front of fans.

• Are the Iowa Hawkeyes the favorite to win the the Big Ten West now? BHGP thinks...maybe.
• Black Shoe Diaries gives the Penn State defense high marks after their win over Wisconsin.
• A few things that the Huskers learned after demolishing Fordham.
• Purdue is aiming to get to a bowl game this season. Step one is complete.
• Northwestern’s defense was uncharacteristically, well, bad on Friday night against Michigan State. They missed an awful lot of tackles and will need to clean that up if they don’t want to have a disaster of a season.
• Michigan is already trending up according to ESPN’s FPI ratings.
• The Terps looked feisty in their season opening win over West Virginia. Can they make some noise in the East this year?
• Rutgers women’s soccer is scoring at an outrageous pace this season.
• The Gophers got a 2023 4-star WR commit over the weekend.
• The Illini lost to UTSA on Saturday. Classic Bielema.