With 5 conferences holding championship games this week (ACC, Big XII, C-USA, MAC, SEC) and 3 others having completely finished their slate of games (Big 10, Mountain West, WAC), there aren't too many games left for this final weekend of football. Only 2 Sun Belt games won't be on at least basic cable, and you can probably even find Arkansas State @ Troy on TV somewhere if you are willing to pay for it (I can't imagine why you would).
Also, a reminder that Cal men's basketball will be playing at Missouri Sunday morning at 11AM as part of the Big 12 / Pac 10 Hardwood Series. The game will be televised on ESPNU, so if you get that channel, join us here for an open thread. (Apparently, ESPNU isn't among the several hundred or so channels that I pay Comcast over $100 per month for, so I guess I'll be following along on the radio.)
Anywho, here's what's on TV today.
Morning:
Navy @ Army, 9:00AM - CBS
#23 Pittsburgh @ Connecticut, 9:00AM - ESPN
East Carolina @ Tulsa, 9:00AM - ESPN2 (C-USA Championship)
#17 Boston College @ #25 Virginia Tech, 10:00AM - ABC (ACC Championship)
Start your morning off on a patriotic note and catch a bit of Army-Navy before you head up to Berkeley. The truly amateur nature of the players, the sacrifice, the pageantry -- it's everything that's great about college football.
If Navy starts blowing out Army (a distinct possibility), you can always switch over to the Big East ACC Championship game, attended by a few thousand die-hard fans in Tampa, FL, hundreds of miles from either Boston or Blascksburg, VA. Remind me again why the ACC expanded?
Afternoon:
Washington @ California, 12:00PM - Comcast Sports Net Bay Area
#1 Alabama @ #4 Florida, 1:00PM - CBS (SEC Championship)
#5 USC @ UCLA, 1:30PM - ABC
If you're not at the Cal game, you'll be treated to a doozy of an SEC title game, with a likely BCS title game berth on the line. Florida's favored by about 10, but I can see this game being a lot closer than that.
If you're a fan of El Paso, root for a Bruins upset of the Trojans, a result which would probably send the Bears to the Sun Bowl. Is the football monopoly in Los Angeles truly over? My guess is 'no'.
Evening:
#20 Missouri @ #2 Oklahoma, 5:00PM - ABC (Big XII Championship)
Arizona State @ Arizona, 5:00PM - ESPN
South Florida @ West Virginia, 5:00PM - ESPN2
The main event of the evening is the Big XII title game, where Oklahoma can win a trip to the BCS title game by beating Missouri. Should they falter, Texas looks pretty good to take their place, although I suppose USC has an outside shot.
If that game gets out of hand, switch over to the Worldwide Leader, where Arizona State will be fighting for a bowl berth and the Territorial Cup down in Tucson. People like to claim that the Territorial Cup is the oldest trophy in college football, and while that's technically true, it's fairly disingenuous. From Wikipedia:
The cup was originally awarded to the Arizona Territorial Normal School football team for winning the Arizona Territorial Football League Championship after a season of three games in 1899. As a result, the cup is actually the property of Arizona State University. The Normals, as they were known at the time, were undefeated in gridiron matches with the Phoenix Union High School (6-0), the Phoenix Indian School (6-0) and the University of Arizona (11-2).
Subsequently, the trophy was placed in the archives and lost for eighty-odd years. After it was found, it was placed on display until 2001, when the ASU President ordered the cup shared as a trophy for the winner of the ASU-UA game. Oldest, yes, but it's only been contested like, 9 times. As far as rivalry trophies go, the Territorial Cup doesn't hold a candle to Floyd of Rosedale.
Late Night:
#13 Cincinnati @ Hawai'i, 8:30PM - ESPN2
Once again, Hawai'i will host the last regular-season college football game of the year, this time with basically nothing on the line. Cincy is already headed to the BCS, and Hawai'i is already set for another home game in the Hawai'i Bowl. If ASU beats Arizona, the Sun Devils get to go to the Las Vegas Bowl, and the Wildcats will fall to the Hawai'i game; otherwise, the WAC has to go hunting for a free agent.
We've started again with that posting. Check it: Interview with Gary Tyrrell, Women's B-Ball Primer. Beastmode. Top25. Eating The Enemy. Fake PAT One. Fake PAT Two. Roundtable. YTT. Inside The Numbers. AYF.