Linking Laconically will give you a penny for your thoughts

So, there's like a bowl game tomorrow night that our Spartans are participating in.  We've been in full-blown basketball mode here the last few weeks.  But we're ready to get jacked up about football again over the next 34 hours.

In light of the chaos surrounding both our football program and that of our bowl opponent in recent weeks, we here at TOC headquarters are curious what the mental state of the MSU fan base is going into the Alamo Bowl.  Below you'll find a poll for weighing in with a prediction on tomorrow night's game--unbiased by LVS's bowl game preview, which will be up later today.

In the meantime, here are some football-related links for your perusal.  This post is also your Official TOC New Year's Day Open Thread for discussing today's bowl game action (plus the Purdue-West Virginia basketball game).

• Valero Alamo Bowl preview - Big Ten Blog - ESPN
  Rittenberg mini-preview.
• All-American Greg Jones mum on NFL plans | detnews.com | The Detroit News
  Narduzzi thinks he's staying, for whatever that's worth.
• Spartans' pass defense must deliver | detnews.com | The Detroit News
  Narduzzi: "It's like making cookies, you want to throw a couple more chocolate chips in, maybe some peanut butter, and see what it tastes like.  You can't wait to throw them in the oven and see how things come out." Ooookay.
• Alamo Bowl notes: Spartans leaving option open to use Keith Nichol as wide receiver | MSU Spartans - - MLive.com
  And/or punt returner?  That makes less sense to me.
• LSJ Blogs: Hey, Joe: Freeman practicing with Spartans
  This one's a couple days old.  What do people know about Corey Freeman?
• Rose Bowl Preview: #8 Ohio State vs. #7 Oregon | Eleven Warriors
  The Granddaddy of Them All.
• Bowl Blitz: New Year's smorgasbord guide, Day Two - Dr. Saturday - NCAAF Blog - Yahoo! Sports
  Covering today's other Big Ten action (which is starting, like, 15 minutes ago).

Happy New Year's Day couch potatoing, everyone.