Friday, December 2, 2011

Weekend watchdog

Saturday, the 12-member Big Ten will host its first conference championship game.
And teams in the 10-member Big 12 will be finishing their regular seasons - too small for a title game this year. That's how we end the regular season.
In the Big Ten, Michigan State meets Wisconsin in Indianapolis for the BCS berth Saturday on FOX. The Pac-12 also holds its first conference title game, matching Oregon and UCLA Friday at 8 p.m. on FOX.
The league that started it all at major college level - the SEC - has its 20th conference championship game Saturday at 4 p.m. on CBS. Top-ranked LSU faces Georgia, with the Tigers hoping to go for another national championship.
 The ACC title game clash between Virginia Tech and Clemson is on ESPN Saturday at 8 p.m.
Other conference championship games include the MAC(Ohio vs. Northern Illinois) Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 and the Conference USA matchup between Southern Mississippi and Houston Saturday at noon on ABC.
Who's going to win the Big East? The last two conference games are Saturday and Cincinnati hosts Connecticut on ESPN at noon. A Bearcat win creates a three-way tie and gives West Virginia the automatic berth. ESPN2 has the future ACC teams (Syracuse at Pittsburgh) at noon.
Without a scheduled championship game, the Big 12 brings some rivals together for the title as Oklahoma battles Oklahoma State on ABC at 8 p.m.
Versus shows TCU vs. UNLV at 2:30 p.m., with BYU ends the season at Hawaii at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
It's the weekend of the Colts matchup with New England, annually one of the best TV draws of the season. Not so in 2011. NBC pulled it from the Sunday night lineup weeks ago, putting Detroit at New Orleans there instead. ESPN has the Chargers playing in Jacksonville Monday night.
Sunday, the Redskins are on CBS in Washington as the Jets come to town at 1 p.m. FOX in Washington can only show one game of the doubleheader, going with Packers at Giants at 4:15 p.m.
The Capitals try to give new coach Dale Hunter his first win Saturday at 7 p.m. when Ottawa visits Verizon Center on Comcast.
Fresh off the ACC-Big Ten challenge, Virginia hosts Longwood Saturday at 1 p.m. on Comcast. Texas heads to UCLA at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Comcast shows St. Joseph's at American at 8 p.m.
CBS starts its march to the Final Four with North Carolina visiting Kentucky Saturday at noon.
ESPN brings a pair of matchups between the Big East and SEC Friday - Florida at Syracuse at 7 p.m. followed by Vanderbilt-Louisville. Saturday, Connecticut hosts Arkansas at 3:15 p.m., then Pittsburgh takes on Tennessee.
ESPN2 starts the weekend Thursday at 7:15 p.m., with St. John's at Kentucky. Georgetown heads to Alabama at 9:15 p.m. Saturday, Gonzaga plays Illinois at 3:15 p.m., followed by South Florida facing Kansas.
MASN has George Washington's trip to Kansas State Thursday at 8 p.m., and two contests Saturday - Charlotte at East Carolina at 5 p.m. followed by Winthrop at Gardner-Webb. It's a pair of games Sunday from Washington, with George Washington playing VCU at 2 p.m. followed by Maryland-Notre Dame.
Tiger Woods gets to play with the big boys this weekend, at the Chevron World Championship Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. on NBC.

No comments: