The Weekly Mailbag doesn’t think there is a “worst” OC in the B1G West.

I don’t know about anyone else, but it’s always a bit jarring when you realize the season is just about over. Sure, it comes earlier for some fans than others. But not all of us can be Northwestern fans scheduling library time on a Saturday afternoon in early October. We like college football lasting into November and through Thanksgiving. Every game and every snap is sacred, and we’re running out of them fast.

So enjoy today’s game. Every snap of Iowa-Illinois matters, and you all better enjoy every single one of them.

What is your best Thanksgiving recipe - Jesse

Green Akers: I make a pretty good from-scratch potato soup that I sometimes break out this time of year. I don’t think it’ll be in the cards much with our current kitchen configuration, though, as it’s a space-hungry process and there’s a limited amount of countertop real estate.

Buffkomodo: I generally start with a well placed comment on how terrible I think our healthcare system is and how objectively bad *insert republican politican here* is. Let that sit with mom for about 15 to 20 minutes and boom, a nice evenly cooked meltdown from my parents just in time for dinner.

Jesse: So, I’ve got two go-to recipes for Thanksgiving. The first is a homemade green bean casserole that I started typing out and realized is just making homemade cream of mushroom soup and homemade fried onions, so like… do with that as you will. The second is turkey gravy and like, it’s just using ALL the drippings and adding butter. I love Thanksgiving.

RU in VA: I’ve got one that I can’t make, because only I eat it. Stuffing with sage sausage, pecans, and cranberries. There’s always one vegetarian, one allergic to nuts, one wuss that doesn’t eat berries, etc. etc.

pkloa: I’m not a fantastic cook, but I can make a pretty tasty peach cobbler. That should count, even for Thanksgiving.

misdreavus79: I just make Dominican dishes and other people get to marvel at the fact that yes, you actually can put flavor on food!

MNW: What, like...salt? Pepper? WHAT SECRETS ARE YOU KEEPING FROM US, DOMINICA-AND/OR-DOMINICAN REPUBLIC?

WSR: Ummmm...I’m not really allowed in the kitchen much on Thanksgiving, since I take up too much space and have a habit of stepping on smaller family members. But I will be stealing the mixer, taking it into the garage, and making some bourbon whipped cream to go on the pecan pie.

Who has the worst OC in the West - Free Beer Tomorrow

Green Akers: Yes.

Buffkomodo: They’re all better than Nick Sheridan so shut up.

Jesse: Nebraska technically will be using either Ron Brown or a GA as OC this week so we - on paper - have a claim. But Brian Ferentz.

BoilerUp89: How many good OCs are in the West? How many West fanbases are happy with their offenses? Two? One of them just hands it off every play (wisconsin). And the other has the head coach calling the offense (Purdue). But to answer the question - Mike Bajakian. The Wildcats have scored 89 points in B1G play.

pkloa: It has to be bad when I wouldn’t want Penn State to downgrade OCs by taking any of them.

RU in VA: Oregon.

HWAHSQB: Fire Tony Petersen!!!

misdreavus79: Statistically speaking, it’s the one with the worst offense, right? I’mma let y’all look it up.

MNW: Brian Ferentz and whoever’s in charge in Lincoln consistently do the least with the most.

WSR: It’s a 7-way tie. We’re a disgrace.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition? - HoustonBoiler

Green Akers: One thing I badly miss about living in Lansing was spending the night before thanksgiving at Crunchy’s, getting in on a bucket of beer (not a bucket full of beer bottles, but a mop bucket-sized receptacle of draught beer) and karaoke. I may have to retool that for metro Detroit.

Buffkomodo: If anything, it’s going to Wal Mart at 6 to get a stupid amount of DVDs for a low price. I love that part.

Jesse: Food. I’m simple, and holidays are excuses for excesses in food.

BoilerUp89: Falling asleep on the floor in the early evening as my body enters a food coma.

MNW: There’s a simple elegance, as Green Akers notes, to the pre-Thanksgiving “high school reunion” that ensues at a local bar of choosing. Ah, I do not miss catching up on which of my high school classmates at Jersey’s now have felonies…

Other than that, my Nana goes all-in on making beaujolais nouveau part of our Thanksgiving tradition, and I’m all for normalizing getting drunk in the name of ceremony, particularly because I have assigned reading for one of my Thanksgiving celebrations this year that includes the title “Weaponizing History” and insinuates the Minnesota Historical Society has been taken over by radical leftists.

BoilerUp, your suggestions?

WSR: The family football game, and more importantly, the stupid injuries we gather as we get more aged and fail to become less competitive. There’s something ridiculous about a group of guys in their 40s, their dads and uncles in their 60s, and their school-aged kids all getting together and having to prove our awesomeness while pinging hammys and breaking collarbones and getting our egos bruised by forgetting which QBs are lefties and rushing them into easy passing TDs.

Forget dessert, what’s the drink(s) of choice for Thanksgiving - indiana, our indiana

Green Akers: I view thanksgiving as the opening weekend of Porter season, so for me it’s usually Atwater’s signature Vanilla Java Porter or perhaps Arcadia Ales’ Porter Rico (now distributed by Bell’s, I believe).

Buffkomodo: Beer. It’s always different.

Jesse: As a ‘can’t really drink’ person, I see Thanksgiving as the moment I feel less bad about downing egg nog for the better part of six weeks, so yeah, that’s my drink of choice.

BoilerUp89: Gewürztraminer. It’s a white wine that pairs really well with turkey. I’m not a big wine drinker, but on Thanksgiving I’ll drink a couple of glasses of this before switching to whatever liquor happens to be at hand.

pkloa: Watching the Detroit Lions was my favorite tradition, but I haven’t done that in 4 years or so. Might see how they’ll lose this year.

misdreavus79: I guess I don’t have any?

MNW: My family’s tradition (in addition to the beaujolais), because my mom for some reason loves it, is Bailey’s over ice. I don’t know why, but it works.

Other than that, a nice after-dinner scotch works just fine for me. Something small, boozy, and gets me fucked up so I can’t listen to how we’re erasing John C. Calhoun by changing the name of a lake.

WSR: Cheap beer, good Irish whiskey. There’s just something to be said about being predictable.

Should NCAAF move up the schedule so only CCGs are played Thanksgiving week? - ProveIt

Green Akers: An interesting concept, and I think the answer depends on whether you have an important rivalry game that is tied up with thanksgiving. The Big Ten, in its wisdom, has put MSU, PSU, Maryland and Rutgers on a round robin for thanksgiving weekend going back a decade now, as though determined to prevent that game from having real meaning to 4/7 of the East, so I don’t really care if MSU plays that weekend or not. If we could just do the sensible thing and cement the Land Grant Trophy’s rightful place at the end of the season, I’d probably care enough to have a stronger take on this one way or the other.

I know Thump absolutely hates Illinois playing Northwestern on that weekend, but I think most Michigan fans would bristle at the notion of moving Teh Gaehm, and there is something I like about watching teams that absolutely hate each other’s guts play while the broadcast does performative gratitude ft. The Troops. Like, what better way to remember what we’re thankful for than the Piss N Miss? You don’t get that with CCGs.

Buffkomdo: We’ll never go, so I don’t care.

Jesse: It’s not a bad idea, but I think it’s kinda similar to basketball in that there’s some version of excitement to have playoff seedings and CCGs hitting back-to-back. From a marketing perspective - despite that being terribly logistically or even logically - that’s hard to beat and I don’t know if there is enough reason to do this otherwise. Similarly, I do wonder if pressures on the season in general would also just kinda get thrown off by losing a home game weekend. Either we’re moving things up or ensuring that bye weeks are overrated.

RU in VA: Naah. Thanksgiving is for professional sports. Let the NFL and NBA take the day and give CFB it’s own time to play the ‘important’ games.

pkloa: Until the B1G schools are smart enough to schedule SEC home and aways in October, I’ll pass. Bad enough Penn State travels to Auburn in mid September, going in mid to late August is just dumb.

misdreavus79: Does that mean Week Zero would happen in mid-August?

MNW: For the scheduling reasons like misdreavus mentions, this interesting idea will never happen.

I think there’s something particularly unique for the Iowas and Ohio States of the world about having their rivalry on a weekend where you know you’re home, you can throw on the brakes, and focus on nothing but the game. While having a Saturday full of championships would be cool, it would mean that 12/14 of the Big Ten is just sitting there, awkwardly having conversation with relatives who hate them. And besides, should the MAC Championship Game really be played on Thanksgiving?

...oh my god it should totally be played on Thanksgiving.

WSR: I don’t think so. I’m a big fan of having ridiculous rivalry games over Thanksgiving weekend. Give me the chaos of the Egg Bowl and Ilinois-Northwestern and Indiana-Purdue and all that other good stuff Thanksgiving weekend while I recover from gluttony. I’m sure this may be considered in the future as the playoff expands, but I think it’d be just another example of making college football worse through “progress.”

Good luck to nearly all of you today. Those of you whose team needs to lose know who you are.