BIG NOOOOOOOD Saturday Morning Hangout, Week 1

The pregame show in which we continue to pivot to words!

BIG NOOOOOOOD Saturday Morning Hangout, Week 1

One quick thing: If you're seeing a sign-up blurb at the top of this page, please go ahead and sign up for our mailing list, which might someday result in a revived weekly newsletter. If you aren't seeing a blurb, hey fantastic, you already signed up! (What's wrong with you? Make better choices! But also thank you!)

Good morning! It's the first official proper football Saturday. We've got a blissfully long weekend of Big Ten games ahead of us (or behind us, for the fanbases that have already played). Let's get prepared by reading a few articles, shooting the shit, and talking ball.

Imagine that this post is like a substantial breakfast burrito and a large iced coffee spent with Pat McAfee! Now imagine that McAfee has been jettisoned to a very uninhabited island in the south Pacific. Oh thank god. Go enjoy that burrito in silence. Ahhhhh.

From OTR!

WWBWWBD - Week 1
See how your “writers” will be enjoying their holiday weekend!
B1G Football Survivor 2026 - Week 0/Week 1
The goal of B1G survivor is simple: be the last one standing in the survivor pool.
The Week Zero Conundrum: What Does The First Game Really Tell Us?
This week’s hypothesis: first impressions tend to be more predictive that you suspect.
Preseason Big Ten Power Poll: Big Ten Teams as ABBA Songs
Who says disco is dead?
2026 Big Ten Football Record Predictions
Here’s how the Big Ten will finish in 2026, from a crack team of blog experts.
Ranking the Big Ten Football Stadiums
What’s the best college football game on this weekend? What time do tonight’s games kick off? And how do the Big Ten stadiums rank by capacity (if they were municipalities in their home states)?
Big Ten Football Week 1 Picks, Predictions, Previews
You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can’t pick a Rutgers win

From Elsewhere!

Huskers Dominate Under the Lights
Plus more fall sports updates
By the Numbers: UMass completes unthinkable 37-21 upset at Rutgers
The Minutemen snapped a 16-game losing streak and exorcised plenty of demons in the process.
Jessica Smetana and Lucy Rohden welcome you to ‘College Football Happy Hour’
College football is almost here, and no one is more excited than Jessica Smetana and Lucy Rohden, hosts of “College Football Happy Hour.”
Play is doing its work even if we’re not keeping score | Aeon Essays
We are most human when we play freely, imaginatively, pointlessly. Gamification risks atrophying that most precious capacity

Read More

Big Ten Football Week 1 Picks, Predictions, Previews

Big Ten Football Week 1 Picks, Predictions, Previews

You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick a Rutgers win

2026 Big Ten Football Record Predictions

2026 Big Ten Football Record Predictions

Predicting the final standings and records of every Big Ten team in 2026.

Preseason Big Ten Power Poll:  Big Ten Teams as ABBA Songs

Preseason Big Ten Power Poll: Big Ten Teams as ABBA Songs

Who says disco is dead?

The Week Zero Conundrum: What Does The First Game Really Tell Us?

The Week Zero Conundrum: What Does The First Game Really Tell Us?

This week's hypothesis: first impressions tend to be more predictive that you suspect.