Weekend watchdog

For several years, one of the biggest NFL regular season games has been Indianapolis-New England. It's usually gotten prime coverage in November, boosting the network that got the coverage when national ratings points are counted. This year that's NBC, which shows the game Sunday night.
You have Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady. Both teams have been successful throughout the decade, and the Colts remain undefeated halfway through the season.
On the other hand, look at the four games FOX has to choose from Sunday afternoon. Lions and Bucs on the road, and Rams at home against the Saints. The Falcons-Panthers may be the best of the lot, and that's not saying much. That's what we'll see in Fishersville.
At least FOX has Cowboys at Packers as the second game of their doubleheader.
The Redskins host their second AFC team of the season - Denver - so CBS from Washington will be showing that in Fishersville. No problem for Ravens' fans, since they head to Cleveland Monday night to beat the Browns on ESPN.
The Big East kicks off your college football weekend with the big West Virginia-Cincinnati contest on ESPN.
Saturday, ESPN has Michigan State at Purude at noon, and a primetime doubleheader - Alabama vs. Mississippi State at 7 p.m. followed by Arizona State at Oregon.
ESPN2 starts day with Georgia Tech at Duke, and offers Auburn-Georgia at 7 p.m.
In the late afternoon, ABC will bring Miami at North Carolina to ACC country. Other choices are Iowa at Ohio State and Nebraska-Kansas. In primetime, it's Notre Dame-Pittsburgh going to most of the country while Texas Tech-Oklahoma State goes to Big 12 territory.
CBS offers an SEC doubleheader - Tennessee-Mississippi at noon and Florida vs. South Carolina at 3:30 p.m.
Clemson takes on North Carolina State in the ACC game of the week. MASN shows the Big East game of the week, Syracuse at Louisville.
Versus has Missouri at Kansas State at noon, then the PAC-10 contest between Arizona and California at 6:30 p.m. Comcast starts the day with Texas at Baylor, followed by Stanford at USC.
Sunday, if you'd like a different football choice than Colts-Patriots, then ESPN has East Carolina at Tulsa.
NASCAR visits Phoenix in the 9th of 10 races in the Chase for the Cup.
The MLS conference finals are this weekend, and ESPN2 shows Friday's Western matchup between Houston and the L.A. Galaxy.
In the NBA, Friday on ESPN, it's the Hawks at Celtics followed by the Lakers at Denver. The Wizards host Detroit on Saturday.
The Capitals play Friday and Saturday, both times pushed over to Comcast-plus. Why are they pushed there Friday? So Comcast can show Maryland basketball against Charleston Southern. It's that time of year.