Weekend Wake Up: Relevant Games Return

Friday was not quite the busiest day in sports. If you wanted to watch games on TV, your choices were a Rutgers-Army game, preseason basketball, and, if you have the NHL’s premium package, a few early season games. That was it.So the off-the-field stuff was ripe for discussion, and we learned that: The NBA’s top-line refs returning to games; John Wall’s eligibility may sort of be in question for a couple of games; Jim Zorn may well be around until the end of the season to captain the sinking S.S. Redskins; and Major League Baseball is making a good call in going to experienced umpiring crews for the World Series.

That information is useful. It is also boring.

Thankfully, today has games, and tons of them.

College football, as with most fall Saturdays, is the big draw. Alabama and Tennessee renew one of the country’s underrated rivalries. Florida travels to Mississippi State’s remote outpost of Starkville, a place that has played Waterloo for the Gators in the past. BYU and TCU meet in a matchup of tough Mountain West schools. Penn State plays Michigan, the best possible combination of offense from Big Ten schools. Iowa must brave East Lansing and Sparty; Texas has to go to Mizzou’s Columbia for the Tigers’ homecoming. Oregon State gets another chance to befuddle USC.

And then there’s the matter of the first potential series-clincher in the new Yankee Stadium. That may be fun. For those who think baseball is too slow and turn up their noses at the night slate of football, UFC 104 is tonight, headlined by recent Sporting Blog interviewee Lyoto Machida.

Today looks good for wearing grooves in a couch. This bright outlook may only last until rain cancels Game 6 and the day in college football exhausts its drama on noontime Big Ten tilts, but, at least from this moment in this morning, everything looks promising.

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