Friday, October 1, 2010

Weekend watchdog

Once a season, CBS shows a Southeastern Conference game in prime time. It's a good one this week.
Top-ranked Alabama, fresh off a come-from-behind win at Arkansas, hosts Florida in a rematch of last year's SEC championship game.
And the schools with two of the last three Heisman Trophy winners.
And the last two national champions.
Ought to be something worth watching. Even if Tim Tebow is in the NFL.
If that's not enough, in the late afternoon slot CBS shows Tennessee at LSU.
ABC usually shows prime time games on Saturday, and has some good ones this week also. Out west, Oregon takes on Stanford while Notre Dame's visit to Boston College will be shown to much of the east. ESPN2 will show the game you don't get on ABC, except a few western areas will see Washington-USC.
ABC fires up the football day at 3:30 p.m. with the Red River Rivalry - Texas vs. Oklahoma in Dallas. Too bad the Longhorns lost to UCLA last week. Parts of the country will get to see Wisconsin-Michigan State, while ACC country gets Virginia Tech's game with North Carolina on the main channel and something else on ESPN.
ESPN begins the weekend Friday with BYU facing Utah State. Saturday begins with Northwestern against Minnesota at noon, while ESPN2 shows Miami's visit to Clemson. ESPN's primetime contest matches Penn State and Iowa.
Virginia gets its turn in the ACC game of the week, hosting Florida State at noon. Should be a tougher game for the Cavaliers than the last two home contests.
Versus brings another battle in the Commander-in-Chief trophy series, when Navy heads west to face Air Force. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.
Comcast brings three games on Saturday, starting at noon with Kansas at Baylor. There's CAA action at 3:30 p.m. when Villanova goes to William & Mary, then at 7 p.m. Georgia takes on Colorado.
Golf's feature event this weekend is the Ryder Cup, being played at the Celtic Manor Resort in Wales. ESPN starts the coverage Friday at 2:30 a.m. (set your alarm clocks). A replay starts at 1 p.m. if you'd like to wait. NBC takes over for the weekend, with play Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., then the final day starting at 7 a.m.
It's week four for the NFL, and the first one with byes. Four teams have the week off, and the Eagles welcome someone they said "bye" to in the offseason - quarterback Donovan McNabb. McNabb and the Redskins visit Philadelphia at 4:15 p.m. on FOX.
In the early slots in Fishersville, CBS has the Steelers hosting the Ravens while FOX offers Carolina at the Saints.
In prime time, the Bears make a journey to new Meadowlands Stadium to play the Giants on NBC. Monday Night's game features the Patriots and Dolphins on ESPN.
The major league baseball regular season ends this weekend, bringing a merciful end to the season for the Orioles and Nationals. The Orioles face the Tigers on MASN2, while the Nationals are in New York to meet the Mets on MASN.
The Red Sox are done, but their games with the Yankees are on FOX Saturday and TBS Sunday afternoon. FOX also shows the Phillies-Braves and the NL West showdown between the Padres and Giants. Close pennant races could add games to the national schedule.
The IRL season closes at Homestead on Versus - Saturday at 7 p.m. - while NASCAR is in Kansas Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPN. The Nationwide Series, waiting for Danica Patrick to return - goes Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN2.
ESPN2 offers MLS action Sunday night, with the Galaxy going against Chivas USA.

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