This offseason, Dustin Pedroia has made sure to give props to Arizona State, Kevin Youkilis has shown love to the U. of Cincinnati, and Josh Beckett has unfortunately thrown his support behind Texas A&M (retch). And now it's time for Mississippi State to get some Red Sox love.

Jonathan Papelbon was back on the Mississippi State campus last night to watch his alma mater take on the Kentucky Wildcats in basketball. During the first break in play in the first half, Papelbon was introduced to the crowd (and got a standing ovation, of course)- although ESPN in its not-so-infinite wisdom declined to show him at any point in their broadcast of the game. (boo!)

Jonathan also then spoke to a whole mess of reporters during halftime- giving the required props to the Bulldogs.

"A lot has changed, that's for sure. It's always good to see that the school that you went to is going in a good direction, and I definitely feel that. Everywhere you go, you're known as a kid that came out of Mississippi State. So I always try to stay true to my roots, obviously."

He also said that it was a good moment when he played back in the south, against the Atlanta Braves, to look out and see people wearing Mississippi State hats and jerseys in support of him.

The reporters also got his thoughts on the current topic du jour in baseball- steroids:

[Papelbon] said, firstly that he never did steroids, and that he doesn't quite understand the reason behind going back and digging up dirt on past players instead of focusing on treating the problem now.

Just like ESPN ignored Papelbon during the broadcast -- apprently the photographers ignored him as well, because I couldn't find a single picture of him at the game. So how about I just post a picture of him back in his college days instead?