Tide rides into Prime Time

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 Thursday with Texas A&M going against Oklahoma State, then Friday it's BYU facing Utah State.
Saturday begins on ESPN 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). 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.

Danica does Dover

How has Danica Patrick's season been in the Nationwide Series? Been a long time since she's raced there.
After appearing in just six of the first 27 races, Patrick heads to Dover Saturday for her fall tour on the Nationwide Series. She should appear in seven more races to close out the season, as the IRL has only one more race to run in 2010.
The flag drops on ESPN2 Saturday at 3 p.m.
Race two of the NASCAR Chase for the Cup will be at the Monster Mile Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPN.  Jimmie Johnson dropped four spots after struggling, but somehow, I bet he'll be back near the top. Can't say the same about Clint Bowyer.
The Red Sox and Yankees aren't battling for the AL East championship, but they do meet twice this weekend on national TV - Saturday on FOX and Sunday night on ESPN. The Reds take on the Padres also on FOX, while the Giants and Rockies battle Sunday afternoon on TBS.
The Nationals continue their final homestand with three games against the Braves on MASN. The Orioles are in Toronto to face the Blue Jays on MASN2.
The Ravens open their home season against the closest thing the NFL has to bye - the Cleveland Browns. CBS will show that at 1 p.m. in the Fishersville area, followed by the Colts' visit to Denver. The Redskins host the Rams in the late afternoon slot on FOX.
The Jets visit Miami for NBC's Sunday night game, while ESPN has the Packers heading to Chicago on Monday night.
CBS has the top college football matchup of the weekend, with top-ranked Alabama playing Arkansas at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Notre Dame takes on Stanford in the time slot on NBC, while ABC/ESPN2 offers Wake Forest-Florida State, Ohio State against Eastern Michigan and UCLA facing Texas.
In primetime, ABC will feature Oregon State against Boise State on the blue turf in the Broncos' final big non-conference game.
Virginia Tech's visit to Boston College gets to be the ACC game of the week, starting at noon.
ESPN begins the weekend Thursday when Miami heads to Pittsburgh at 7:30 p.m. On Friday, TCU meets SMU at 8 p.m., then Saturday at noon it's N.C. State facing Georgia Tech. In primetime, it's a top-20 battle between South Carolina and Auburn.
On ESPN2, the day starts at noon with Bowling Green meeting Michigan. Oklahoma goes to Cincinnati at 6 p.m., followed by the big battle between West Virginia and LSU at Death Valley.
Versus presents the Atlanta Football Classic Saturday at 3:30 p.m., with Tennessee State meeting Florida A&M.
Comcast has football early - Central Florida at Kansas State at 12:30 p.m. - and late from the Pac-10 as Oregon goes to Arizona State at 10:30 p.m.
MASN has college football in prime time Saturday, with Western Kentucky visiting South Florida.
For your younger football action, ESPN2 shows high school football from South Carolina Friday at 7 p.m.
The main part of the PGA tournament schedule closes this weekend with the Tour Championship. NBC provides coverage Saturday starting at noon and Sunday from 1:30 to 6 p.m.
D.C. United takes to the pitch Saturday night on Comcast, hosting Houston at 7:30 p.m. ESPN2 has its MLS game Friday night, as the Red Bulls visit Los Angeles at 11 p.m.

And the Chase is on

Ten more NASCAR races to go, which means 12 drivers enter the Chase for the Cup starting Sunday.
NASCAR designed the chase to heighten excitement down the stretch. But how much excitement has there been with Jimmy Johnson winning the last four cups?
Johnson is second to Denny Hamlin going into this year's cup, which starts at New Hampshire on ESPN.
If you want real late night Saturday racing, the IRL is in Tokyo. The green flag drops at 11 p.m. on Versus.
The Manning Bowl highlights the second weekend of the NFL season - Eli and the Giants visit Peyton and the Colts Sunday night on NBC. Monday night, the Saints head to San Francisco as the 49ers seek to bounce back from a lousy opener.
After no local teams played last Sunday afternoon, CBS gets both this week. The Ravens visit Cincinnati in the early game, then the Redskins look for a second straight win over a Texas team - meeting the Texans at 4:15 p.m.
FOX will show the Bears going to Dallas in the Fishersville area in the early slot.
The Orioles get national coverage on TBS Sunday afternoon, hosting the Yankees. MASN also has the series all weekend, while the Nationals face the Phillies on MASN2.
The Tigers and White Sox play Sunday night on ESPN, and join the Braves-Mets and Padres-Cardinals as the offerings for the FOX Saturday package.
With tennis done, CBS enters the college football realm as Florida visits Tennessee at 3:30 p.m. The Vols' big loss to Oregon and Florida's opening game struggles may dim a little luster from the contest.
ABC has a pair of big games on Saturday night - Texas against Texas Tech and Notre Dame-Michigan State. In the late afternoon, games include Alabama at Duke, Nebraska-Washington and Arizona State's visit to Wisconsin. In both time slots, ESPN2 has one of the offerings not on ABC in your area.
ESPN opens the weekend Thursday as Cincinnati goes to North Carolina State. Friday, it's Kansas-Southern Mississippi at 8 p.m. on ESPN and California taking on Nevada at 10 p.m. on ESPN2.
Saturday starts on ESPN with Arkansas meeting Georgia at noon, then USC visits Minnesota. Will the Trojans be tougher than South Dakota? In primetime, it's Clemson taking on Auburn.
On ESPN2, Penn State hosts Kent State at noon and Wake Forest heads west to play Stanford at 11 p.m.
The ACC game of the week features Georgia Tech at North Carolina. Wonder if there will be over 100 points scored in the ACC game like last Saturday?
MASN shows Connecticut at Temple Saturday at noon, as the former Big East team tries to impress a rising star.
Comcast goes with four games Saturday from all across the country, after starting at noon with Iowa State against Kansas State from Kansas City. Air Force visits Oklahoma at 3:30 p.m., followed by William & Mary-Old Dominion before heading west for Houston against UCLA at 10:30 p.m.
Versus has Baylor against TCU at 4 p.m.
The WNBA champion could be determined tonight, when Seattle visits Atlanta at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.