Happy new year!

OK, here's what a geek I am: You know how you sometimes are sitting around in the morning and you remember a brief dream you had the night before? This morning I was reading my Sporting News college basketball preview while brushing my teeth, and remembered that last night, I had a dream/nightmare that big-time big man recruit Evan Anderson of Eau Claire had committed to Marquette. Thankfully, that has not yet happened.

Feeling good about the Outback Bowl because we're underdogs. Watching ESPN's bottom line during yesterday's bowls, it appears 70% of those users are picking Tennessee, as are 73% of Yahoo users. The Vegas odds are tighter, essentially calling it a toss-up with the Vols a 1.5- or 2-point favorite.

On the radio preview Matt LePay was just talking about how a guy like O'Brien Schofield might play a lot, even start; one of the papers reported this in the last couple days. Another big variable is time of possession: UW is #2 nationally, UT #100. The wind is blowing pretty hard in Tampa, which should work in our favor.

Final note: While watching the Outback and Cotton bowls today remember that Polzin said Wisconsin and Arkansas might be playing for the national title this year, a point I missed but he reminded readers of today.