Happy New Year, everyone. And in honor of the turning of the calendar (begone, 2010!), the college football gods have seen fit to bestow on us a glorious bounty of football today, the last such buffet we will taste until September. So savor it well. Yes, there are games after this one, some of them even important (like the BBVA Compass Bowl!), but no other day in "bowl week" will drown us in so much wonderful college football action. And on New Year's Day, the Big Ten takes center stage, as not one, not two, not three, not four, but five Big Ten teams are playing bowl games today. Of course, in Emperor Delany's infinite wisdom, four of them are being played at roughly the same time, meaning your remote is going to get a workout. So, yes, the scheduling sucks. But it's football, dammit, and the matchups are good. The Big Ten's 2-0 in bowls so far (woo GO IOWA AWESOME and, er, ZOOK4EVER) -- let's see if that can continue.
* Texas Tech vs. Northwestern (11am CST, ESPNU)
* Penn State vs. Florida (12pm CST, ABC)
* Alabama vs. Michigan State (12pm CST, ESPN)
* Michigan vs. Mississippi State (12:30pm CST, ESPN2)
You know the rules of open threads - no porn, no piracy, no slurs, and so forth. Just don't be a dumbass. We'd hate to have to start the new year by banning you. Game on.