The Spartans held their official press conference for the Alamo Bowl on Friday. I attended as the microphone holder for a Channel 12 reporter. For those who attend pressers consistently and interact with players/coaches, it's just another meeting. Since this was my first one, ever, it was intriguing on a personal and philosophical level.

Coach Dantonio took questions and also served up the truest quote of the day. "Coach, what are you going to do with your backups getting significant playing time?"...to which Dantonio said, "We have football players. They are going to play."

It's impossible not to say possibly incriminating, embarrassing, or stupid things at a press conference. That truth leads me to another statement - If you think the male-female relationship is weird (and it is), the sportswriter-athlete/coach relationship is on the same weird plane. The media holds tremendous power, but at the same time, many have the air of a proud father or a weak kneed N'Sync fan around the athletes.

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After the jump, see who picked the most upsets, which matchup will separate the wheat from the chaffe...And who was ballsy enough to pick Texas. Click here to download the full bracket with all 20 pick sets. Also, enjoy our blatant Big Ten homerism as we pick our beloved conference to go 6-1 5-2.

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Buoyed by my DVR and the BTN, I consumed more Big Ten football this year than ever before. I watched almost every single Indiana game (yeah..I know) and I even caught those random non-comf's throughout the year. One team almost always slipped out of my dedicated football viewing schedule however -

Penn State

I rarely watched even one half of any given Nittany Lions contest. Reasons for my lax viewing abound beyond my non-PSU fandom...

Don't forget to go back and submit your Bowl Prediction sheet for another chance to win a prize. For winning the regular season OPC, Seattle Hawkeye won...a hat. You may win...something cooler. Hardest bowls to pick so far are Stanford-Oklahoma and PSU-LSU.

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Tearing on another team's disciplinary or academic problems is usually an uninteresting pursuit that can quickly turn against you. For every Ed Martin (Michigan booster who gave 280k to Chris Webber), there's a Maurice Clarett and a Charles Rogers. So MSU's reputation, although tarnished by the fact that there are gangs of unruly Spartan football players roving around East Lansing, will remain similar to any other major program.

So will there be any REAL impact on the Texas Tech game? What does Leach need to know about Animal House 2: When Players Attack?

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It's always such a horrific feeling, this first Saturday without a slate of cfb contests to gorge myself on. As personal cynicism toward my Michigan fandom increases, I find myself attached to the schemes and formations and individual talents that make up football. What a sense of euphoria I gained this year, posted up at the gym with 4 TV's all tuned to a noon game in full swing.

Now I sit in my recliner, the tail end of a Saturday morning cartoon showing as I sit and wait for Kentucky-Indiana. I'm missing the absolute absurdity of Saturday's, the foolish notion of putting 22 oversized men on a small field and telling them to destroy each other for three hours, the idea that watching football from 11 am (Gameday) until 1 am (catch those Pac 10 games) is healthy. I'll bet you can imagine strapping on some old Nike's and running for two hours at an open gym. Could you imagine strapping on shoulder pads and getting smashed to the ground for that same amount of time?

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Things that make non-BCS games interesting, interesting meaning "this game will draw my attention even though I have a family and the stakes aren't particularly high":

- Gambling

- Huge fan bases that travel well

- Storied programs for cool bowl flashbacks and highlights

- NFL-caliber players on either side of the ball

- Intriguing offensive/defensive match-ups

Assuming that none of you gamble, I would argue that only a handful of non-BCS bowls really stick out to me using this or any other criteria. Stanford-Oklahoma (who wants to watch a white person succeed from the running back position? ME - oh and millions others)...Miami (FL) v. Wisky (Fast v Slow?)...Virginia Tech-Tenn (maybe in 1999-2000)...OSU-BYU (Lots of crisply thrown short passes)...and of course Penn State-LSU in the Cap One. When pressed, I put my slight Big Ten homerism to the side and think that it's either Stan-OK or PSU.

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I am hardly excited about this match-up, as everyone can explain what exactly Michigan State needs to do for a chance at winning, but no one can explain how exactly this is going to happen. Everyone and their mother knows Michigan State can't defend the pass and that defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi refuses to play anything other than two ineffective schemes. Everyone also knows that the magic of the Texas Tech attack comes from the Air Raid principles of Mike Leach, which includes an amalgamation of shallow crossing routes, comeback routes, dumpoffs in space, and quick screens.

Here is the numbers breakdown from The Only Colors, of course highlighting the fact that TT has the #2 passing offense in the nation and MSU has the #103 pass defense.

But let's save the scheming and gnashing of Spartan teeth for another day and discuss some past bowl games results. Could this game be closer than everyone believes?

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