Hey y'all. There'll be a recap of the game tomorrow, but let's be honest -- you know all the critical moments and triumphs of the game. I could fill the recap with "YUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSS" and that would work, but I want to do a really good job with it. That's why it going's to be a bit late, but trust me -- it'll be worth it. In lieu of a recap, here are some links.

Finishing with a flurry - LSJ Blogs: Hey, Joe Rexrode with the quintessential take.

Drew Sharp: Michigan State finds bowl salvation when field-goal attempt snuffed out | Detroit Free Press | freep.com Drew Sharp you say? Why not, I'm feeling magnanimous.

Michigan State rallies from 16-0 halftime deficit, beats Georgia in third OT of Outback Bowl | MLive.com A traditional gamer if you forgot the details. Because of lack of oxygen to your brain. Because that's what happens when you hyperventilate for half the fourth quarter and three overtimes.

Snap Judgments: Sparty saves afternoon after B1G bowl letdowns – Campus Union Our dearest Aunt Stabby with a brief recap of the Outback Bowl along with other games yesterday.

David Attenborough Narrates The Outback Bowl - From Our Editors - SBNation.com Jerel Worthy GIF? Oh, you know I'm on that.

Michigan State Spartans 33, Georgia Bulldogs 30: All's Bad That Ends Badly? - Dawg Sports A view from our blog bros over at Dawg Sports, SB Nation's Georgia Bulldog blog.

QUICK HITS: Michigan State 33, Georgia 30, 3OT - CBSSports.com The game was rated an "A" for entertainment value. I'd agree with that, as would the few years taken off my life.

Spartans prevent another B1G debacle - Big Ten Blog - ESPN Lastly, Rittenberg says what we all thought at one point afterwards -- MSU saved the B1G's ass. Surprisingly, I don't think Jim Delany (remember, when spelling Jim's last name it's "Delany" like Dana, not Kim) will be sending Mark Hollis a gift basket.

Box score for the semifinal here; final here.

The semifinal went about as expected: Michigan Tech threw a lot of pucks at the net, but MSU made their shots count. Greg Wolfe scored a power play goal early to take the lead, and Chris Forfar made it 2-0 just before the middle of the game. Tech struck with a 5-on-3 goal from Ryan Furne with 12:32 to go in the game, but Drew Palmisano remained a wall in front of the net and kept the Spartans in front until Brett Perlini could seal the game with an empty-net goal. Tech outshot the Spartans 46-26 for the game, but there were few truly scary chances for the Huskies.

With Michigan upsetting Boston College in the other semifinal, the final was a rematch of the series three weeks ago. The opening strike didn't occur until past the midway point of the second period, with Tanner Sorensen putting the Spartans up 1-0. MSU carried that advantage into the third period, but the third period was not a good one.

Michigan absolutely dominated play in the third with a ridiculous 24-3 shots-on-goal advantage. A mid-period power play for the Wolverines was killed off, but MSU was never able to clear the puck and regroup, and about 30 seconds after the penalty expired, Michigan cashed in with a goal from Derek DeBlois. The Spartans regained the lead with just 7:28 to go on Perlini's second goal of the weekend off a beautiful feed from Kevin Walrod, but that was only a brief respite from the siege. An unfortunate penalty on Brent Darnell for tripping away from the play with just over two minutes to go only made matters worse. Michigan pulled goalie Shawn Hunwick for a 6-on-4 advantage at the one-minute mark, and Kevin Lynch deflected in a pass from the corner to force overtime, where Kevin Clare would eventually win it nearly 12 minutes in.

The good:

• Drew Palmisano set a GLI two-game record for saves with 90, 45 in each game. There were a couple of spectacular saves against Tech, but it was the Michigan game in particular where he made several outstanding stops. The final could easily have been a blowout if not for his heroics.
• Perlini scored once in each game, an empty net goal to seal the semifinal win and the third-period go-ahead goal.
• Torey Krug had two assists for the weekend and a +2 plus/minus rating. Krug, Palmisano, and Perlini all made the all-tournament team.

The bad:

• Being outshot 94-51 on the weekend. It's a mark of how spectacularly Palmisano played that we were in either game; you won't win too many games that way even with Ryan Miller in his heyday in net.
• A second chance at Boston College might have been helpful for Pairwise reasons; with our only Hockey East game for the year being the loss to them in the Icebreaker to start the season, the common games point against Hockey East teams is likely lost. A win over BC could have swung those comparisons, as most of Hockey East won't have a .500 record against them. (On the other hand, if those teams have played against CCHA teams or our other non-conference opponents, we're better off with only one loss instead of two, as all of their BC games will count anyway.) Insert usual rant about the absurdity of the Pairwise here (although there are certainly worse ways to go about it; we need only look at the BCS for proof).

Next up: MSU resumes conference play with home series against Miami-Ohio, Northern Michigan, and Lake Superior State the next three weekends.

What with the holidays and all, real life has been a bit busy. With that and data for hockey being rather sparse compared to the vast treasure troves we have for football or basketball, this is going to be a very short preview.

What is it? An annual four-team holiday invitational tournament co-hosted by Michigan State, Michigan, and Michigan Tech. The fourth team is different every year; this year it is Boston College.

When is it? 14th-ranked Michigan State faces off against Michigan Tech in the first semifinal (4:00 ET today); Michigan and Boston College play afterward (at approximately 7:30 ET, assuming the first semifinal doesn't go deep into overtime). The losers will play in the third-place game at 4:00 ET tomorrow, the winners in the title game at 7:30 ET. The title game will be on Fox College Sports Atlantic; other games will not be televised.

Who are these other teams? You know Michigan (ranked #20) well enough; we played them only three weeks ago. Of note, though: due to the 2012 World Juniors hockey tournament, Michigan will be without forward Jon Merrill. (Edit: commenter sullivti points out that Merrill hasn't played all year due to a suspension for "violation of team rules", so this isn't really a change from the last time we played.)

Michigan Tech is usually a doormat; two years ago we beat them 10-1 in the GLI opener. This year's team is no pushover, however, at 6-7-1 in the WCHA (which, most years, is to college hockey what the SEC claims to be to college football) and .500 overall, including a split at #2 Minnesota and a win and tie against #15 Denver. They are still, however, the least formidable of the four teams present on paper; they score just 2.84 goals per game to our 3.44 and Michigan's 3.55 and allow 2.89 to our 2.67 and Michigan's 2.65. Their scoring is remarkably balanced; Milos Gordic leads the way with just 7 goals (four on the power play), but three others have 6 and two have 5.

Boston College, on the other hand, comes in ranked #3 and leads Hockey East at 9-4-0 in conference, 12-6-0 overall. They are scoring 3.61 goals per game and allowing just 2.50. BC defeated us 5-2 in the season opener at the Icebreaker Tournament and are making their first appearance in the GLI since winning it in 2003. Like Michigan, however, they are missing a forward who is playing for Team USA at World Juniors (Bill Arnold). Arnold is their second-leading scorer, but they still pack plenty of punch up front: Chris Kreider has 12 goals (tied for 8th nationally) and Barry Almeida has 10.

My bold (and probably wrong) predictions for the tournament: Tech gives us a scare for a bit before we put them away, 4-2. Boston College wins handily in the other semifinal, 5-2. Michigan then wipes the floor with Tech in the third-place game, 5-1. With Arnold away, we're able to keep it more competitive against BC but fall 3-2 in the title game.

On a completely unrelated note: I plan to get the first set of basketball Bradley-Terry ratings up within the next day or two (have to make a few minor tweaks to the script to get the home/road data from Ken Pomeroy's database); next year should be quicker.

Every now and then I try my hand at establishing a new column. Every now and then it fails because I can't come up with a new idea, or the season starts and it gets back-burnered. I think I might have a hit this time though: The Friday Thought Dump! I often shy away from editorializing, because it seems self-indulgent. This isn't Pete Rossman presents The Only Colors featuring Pete Rossman. So I'm going to try this, and include a few of your comments as well as comments of the week. Here goes nothing.

THE BIG THING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK: THE SE'VON PITTMAN DECOMMITMENT

I'm not going to lie -- this stung. I was upset after Pittman's decommitment, and I dealt with it by cleaning my apartment. After a couple days, I'm beginning to accept and rationalize it, for four reasons:

• If Pittman wanted to be at Ohio State and enrolled at MSU, he'd never live up to his Top-100 billing. Nearly self-explanatory. No, this isn't sour grapes either.
• Michigan State only plays Ohio State in the regular season once in the next three years -- at least. File under the category "We'll worry about the Big Ten Championship Game when we get there". MSU plays three teams from the (ugh) Leaders division each year -- Indiana, and two rotating teams. Next year's the last year MSU will have to face Wisconsin and Ohio State before December for a while, and that means avoiding two of the toughest teams. Even though Urban Meyer's recruiting his butt off right now, it's not really affecting MSU.
• Mark Dantonio has taken commitments from other committed recruits before. David Barrent, like Se'Von Pittman, was a Top-100 recruit who switched his commitment from Iowa to Michigan State. I didn't complain when that happened, so I can't complain too much now lest I be a hypocrite.
• MSU's deep at defensive end. If Pittman was slotted as a defensive tackle recruit, the tone here might be much different. Pittman was recruited as a D-end however, where MSU is deep -- William Gholston and Marcus Rush are going to be around for a couple more years (I don't think Gholston's leaving early unless he has a special year in 2012), and apparently 2011 recruit Shilique Calhoun has been impressive on the scout team this year. There's plenty of rounds in the chamber.
  
  In conclusion -- it hurt losing Pittman this week. Rationalization helps heal the pain. Also helping: the thought that Urban Meyer will be seriously trampled at some point in 2012 by Buckeye fans attempting to touch him, in the false hope that he can heal leprosy.

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It's a little after 10 as I'm writing this, and I'm about to head to Indy. SO PUMPED Y'ALL. Hopefully you're getting ready to enjoy this momentous game as well, and here's some links to get you in the mood.

Michael Rosenberg: Michigan State, Wisconsin aren't 1-year wonders in Big Ten title game | Detroit Free Press | freep.com Your obligatory "MSU and Wisconsin are starting to be powers" article.

Highlights from Bielema, Dantonio Press Conferences - Bucky's 5th Quarter The guys over at Bucky's 5th Quarter, S Nation's Wisconsin blog, covered the press conferences yesterday.

MSU football: Wisconsin's defense is game's forgotten unit | Lansing State Journal | lansingstatejournal.com I'd agree with that statement. That doesn't make the Badger front seven any less fearsome; I worry that linebacker Chris Borland will cause many problems for the MSU running game today.

Gains in recruiting, bowl success may result from today's game | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com Categorize as "article from comments Jim Delany made that have no basis in reality".

Will Big Ten football championships play in a college basketball town? | The Indianapolis Star | indystar.com This, however, is interesting. Why has demand been down for tickets?

Tom Oates: Big Ten title game should be NCAA playoff game A Madison columnist yearning for a playoff game.

Green Thoughts: A collection of experts' picks for BTFCG Chris Vannini has a list of experts' predictions for the game. No surprise, many more are for Wisconsin than Michigan State.

MSU football: MSU-Wisconsin preview | Lansing State Journal | lansingstatejournal.com Rexrode predicts a one-point MSU win. I was ready to write "ET TU, JOE?" in this space, but I guess that'll have to wait for another time.

New NIU coach Mark Montgomery brings Izzo philosophy with him -- CNNSI.com  Congratulations to our own Steve Hendershot, who had this profile of current Northern Illinois/previous MSU assistant Mark Montgomery.  It's a great read, complete with quotes from Montgomery and Izzo comparing and contrasting the two coaches, and explaining the new challenges Montgomery will face with the Huskies.

The poll that ranks every Big Ten team -- The Columbus Dispatch  The Big Ten Media preseason basketball poll has been released, and Michigan State is at #4 behind Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio State.  Ohio State got every first place vote (as they should), and I'm alright with MSU at #4.  Wisconsin has Jordan Taylor back and always seems to do well every year, and Michigan had the same record and lost just about as much as MSU.  In my opinion you could have any combination of MSU, Michigan, and Wisconsin (maybe even Purdue) in any combination and I wouldn't quibble.  Two things piqued my interest in this poll:

• Two writers voted Indiana in the cellar, below Penn State.  Either the Nittany Lion beat writers are bullish on Penn State's chances last year, Hammer and Rails and Boiled Sports have finally infiltrated the media poll, or confused Nebraska basketball writers are confused.
• Someone thinks Minnesota will finish third.  If teams were not allowed to play with guards, this would be a possibility.

BONUS LINK!  Black Heart Gold Pants breaks down win probability and other cool stats during State's final drive on Saturday.