Hokies in primetime

Cassell Coliseum and its fans get to shine this weekend.
ESPN's GameDay crew pays a visit to Cassell Coliseum Saturday, as the Hokies host Duke at 9 p.m. The festivities begin in the morning with the two-hour preview show, and then get you ready for the game at 8 p.m.
The question remains - are the Hokies ready for primetime? They lost both matchups to Virginia, and fourth place in the ACC doesn't guarantee anything - even with the field now 68 teams.
But they won at Wake Forest Tuesday, giving needed momemtum to face the top-ranked Blue Devils.
ESPN's Saturday begins at noon when Missouri heads to Kansas State, followed by St John's at Villanova. It's back to the Big 12 at 4 p.m. when Kansas plays Oklahoma, then Mississippi State takes on Tennessee.
ESPN2 has Wichita State at Missouri State at 1 p.m., followed by Memphis-UTEP. It's off to the Big West at 8 p.m. when UC Santa Barbara battles Long Beach State.
Thursday there's Big East on the menu as ESPN2 shows Marquette-Connecticut at 7 p.m. and ESPN offers West Virginia at Pittsburgh at 9 p.m. The night begins on ESPN at 7 p.m. with Georgia facing Florida, while ESPN2 heads west as the night goes on - Penn State at Northwestern at 9 p.m. followed by Gonzaga-St. Mary's.
Friday, Judgment Week begins on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. when Siena meets Fairfield in the MAAC.
Sunday, ESPN shows Purdue-Michigan State at 1 p.m. while ESPN2 goes with Xavier at Dayton.
The ACC network splits its coverage of games Saturday at 2 p.m. NBC29 and northern areas will feature Georgia Tech at N.C. State, while CW29 shows Miami at Florida State.
CBS has a full weekend of college basketball as the NCAA tournament nears. There's three games Saturday, starting at noon when Syracuse visits Georgetown. BYU heads to San Diego State at 2 p.m., followed by Florida taking on Kentucky.
Sunday at 2 p.m. it's back to the Big East when Louisville meets Pittsburgh. The Big Ten battle between Indiana and Ohio State caps off the weekend.
Comcast starts Thursday in the CAA with Northeastern taking on George Mason at 7 p.m. Then it's off to the west coast as UCLA hosts Arizona State at 11 p.m. Saturday, Boston College meets Virginia at noon, followed by Temple at George Washington and William &Mary-Old Dominion.
The Sunday ACC game of the week features Maryland traveling to North Carolina at 7:30 p.m. Comcast heads west at 10:30 p.m. for Washington State-Washington.
MASN offers a pair of games Thursday - Mt. St. Mary's at Robert Morris at 7 p.m. and a WAC battle between Nevada and Idaho at 10:30 p.m. Saturday, there's three games from across the nation. At 2 p.m., there's the Big East matchup between South Florida and DePaul, followed by Texas at Colorado. The Big South takes the stage at 7 p.m. with VMI meeting Winthrop.
Sunday West Virginia visits Rutgers at noon, followed by St. Peter's at Rider. It's back to the Big East at 4 p.m. when Providence heads to Marquette.
As the weather warms and time for the Masters quickly approaches, the PGA tour brings together its 64 best golfers for the World Match Play Championship this weekend.
In most tournaments, the players get four rounds to notch the best score. This week, it's beat your opponent each day or head off for next week's venue. Sorry, Tiger Woods, but you won't be exciting the crowds this Sunday.
Golf Channel has coverage during the week, and NBC picks up the action Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. both days.
Fresh off his upset win at the Daytona 500, Trevor Bayne and the NASCAR gang head to Phoenix this Sunday. Coverage begins at 3 p.m.
The Nationwide drivers hit the track Saturday at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2.
TNT's Thursday NBA doubleheader starts at 8 p.m. when Miami heads to Chicago. In the nightcap, the Celtics face the Nuggets. ESPN has the Magic hosting Oklahoma City Friday, and the Nuggets meet the TrailBlazers in the nightcap.
ABC only offers one game this weekend, with the Lakers heading to Oklahoma City at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
With Carmelo Anthony now on the squad, the Knicks host Miami Sunday at 8 p.m. on ESPN. The Hawks play Portland at 10:30 p.m.
The Wizards visit Miami Friday at 7 p.m. on Comcast, and host Dallas Saturday on Comcast-plus.
For the hopeful stars of the future, Versus shows the D-League game between Bakersfield and Idaho Saturday at 11 p.m.

Comcast offers three women's basketball games Sunday, starting at 1 p.m. when Virginia Tech hosts Virginia in the regular season finale. It's off to the CAA at 3 p.m. when Delaware visits Old Dominion, then back to the ACC for North Carolina-Duke.
MASN goes to the Big East for women's basketball Saturday at noon, with South Florida at Villanova.
ESPN2 shows Baylor taking on Oklahoma Sunday at 5 p.m.

It's a New York weekend for the Capitals, with the Rangers in town Friday on Comcast plus and a trip to play the Islanders Saturday on Comcast.

The flag drops on NASCAR season

Can Jimmie Johnson win yet another title?

Can Dale Earnhardt Jr. win once?

Will a new star burst onto the scene in 2011?

NASCAR begins answering its questions Sunday when the flag drops on the 53rd annual Daytona 500. Fox has the coverage starting at 1 p.m., and by nightfall a new hero will be crowned. Dale Jr. has the pole, with teammate Jeff Gordon in the second slot. But Dale Jr. had the second spot in the 2010 Daytona 500, and failed to reach Victory Lane for the second straight season.

The rest of the Daytona 500 field will be set in the Twin 125, shown Thursday at 2 p.m. on Speed.

First race of the Nationwide Series season will be Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.

Boogity, boogity, boogity, let's go racing boys. 

The best of the NBA gather in L.A. Sunday for the All-Star game at 7 p.m. on TNT. Saturday is time for the other all-star events, starting at 8 p.m. and finishing with the Slam Dunk champion.

For those who want an early start to the weekend, ESPN has the Celebrity All-Star game Friday at 7 p.m. For the hopeful stars of the future, Versus shows the D-League game between Bakersfield and Idaho Saturday at 11 p.m.

It's BracketBuster weekend at ESPN. Friday, ESPN2 offers Virginia Commonwealth at Wichita State at 7 p.m. There's four more games on the ESPN2 schedule Saturday, starting with Missouri State at Valaparaiso at 5 p.m., followed by George Mason-Northern Iowa. The coverage heads west at 9 p.m. for Utah State taking on St. Mary's, then Montana meets Long Beach State. Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPN2, Cleveland State visits Old Dominion.

The hoops weekend begins Thursday on ESPN when Penn State takes on Minnesota at 7 p.m., followed by Alabama-LSU. On ESPN2, Clemson visits N.C. State at 7 p.m., then it's DePaul at Providence. Friday, ESPN has the Big East at 9 p.m. as Connecticut takes on Louisville.
ESPN offers five games on Saturday, beginning at noon with Pittsburgh at St. John's. Top-ranked Kansas hosts Colorado at 2 p.m., then it's Boston College-North Carolina and Washington at Arizona. The GameDay crew will watch Illinois take on Michigan State at 9 p.m.
Sunday, ESPN has Florida-LSU at 1 p.m.
Virginia hosts Virginia Tech on the ACC network and NBC29 Saturday at 1 p.m., while CW29 and southern areas of the conference see Florida State at Wake Forest.
CBS has a pair of games to show Saturday at 1 p.m. - splitting the country between Georgia-Tennessee and Notre Dame-West Virginia - then Sunday at 1 p.m. it's Ohio State at Purdue.

MASN offers four Big East games Saturday, starting at noon when Villanova visits DePaul. Rutgers goes to Syracuse at 4 p.m., then it's a primetime doubleheader starting at 7 p.m. - Georgetown traveling to South Florida and Seton Hall-Marquette.

There's a pair of Atlantic 10 games on Comcast Saturday - Duquesne-Dayton at noon and George Washington taking on LaSalle at 7 p.m. - with Oregon State-Oregon at 4 p.m.

Sunday is the ACC doubleheader - North Carolina State at Maryland at 5:30 p.m. with Georgia Tech-Duke as the nightcap. UCLA visits California at 10:30 p.m.

MASN carries Big East women's basketball Saturday at 2 p.m. when Notre Dame goes to Connecticut. Sunday, it's time for America East action when UMBC visits Hartford at 1:30 p.m.

Comcast offers CAA women's basketball Thursday at 7 p.m. when William & Mary meets Drexel. Saturday, it's off to the Big 12 for Baylor-Texas Tech at 2 p.m. and Sunday's there's a pair of games - Boston College at Virginia at 1 p.m. followed by James Madison at Delaware.

ESPN2 has a women's doubleheader Sunday - Maryland at Florida State at 3 p.m., then it's off to the Big 10 for Ohio State-Purdue.

Outdoor ice hockey takes the stage on Versus Sunday at 6 p.m., when Calgary hosts Montreal in the Heritage Classic.

The Capitals continue their road trip at San Jose Thursday at 10:30 p.m. on Comcast, then visit Buffalo Sunday at 12:30 p.m. as one of three games on NBC. NBC continues the hockey action at 3:30 p.m. when Pittsburgh takes on Chicago. Versus
Comcast has the Flyers visiting Carolina Friday at 8 p.m.

CBS has the PGA tour -the Northern Trust Open - Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m.

A sure sign of spring is college lacrosse, and Sunday at 3 p.m. ESPN shows Duke at Notre Dame.

Get revved up

It's Speed Week at Daytona.
You've got a week to wait until the flag drops on the Daytona 500, but hopefully the Daytona Shootout will whet your appetite. The race is on FOX Saturday at 8 p.m.
Boogity, boogity, boogity, let's go racing boys.
The racing weekend continues Sunday with qualifying at 1 p.m. that sets the first two spots for next Sunday's Daytona 500 and the fields for Thursday's Twin 125s.
Less than two weeks after they met in L.A., the Celtics and Lakers get together again Thursday at 8 p.m. on TNT. In the nightcap, Dallas visits Denver. ESPN's Friday doubleheader features the Lakers at New York at 8 p.m. followed by the Suns at the Jazz.
ABC's Sunday doubleheader starts with the Celtics hosting the Heat at 1 p.m., then the Lakers visit Orlando. ESPN offers the Thunder at Warriors Sunday at 8 p.m.
The Spurs visit Washington Saturday at 8 p.m. on Comcast. Then somebody's gotta win when the Wizards take on Cleveland Sunday at 6 p.m.
The ACC Network offers split regional coverage for games Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The Hokies host Georgia Tech Sunday at 1 p.m. on NBC29, while other fans can tune to CW29 for N.C. State against Wake Forest. Saturday, the choices are North Carolina-Clemson on NBC29 and Maryland-Boston College on CW29.
ESPN has a doubleheader Thursday, with Connecticut against St. John's at 7 p.m. followed by Illinois-Minnesota. ESPN2 has three games, starting at 7 p.m. with the ACC battle between Florida State and Georgia Tech. Alabama meets Vanderbilt at 9 p.m., then it's Gonzaga taking on Loyola Marymount.
There's five games on ESPN and six on ESPN2 Saturday. ESPN starts in the Big East with Syracuse-Louisville at noon, then offers Ohio State-Wisconsin, Texas taking on Baylor at 4 p.m. and Tennesee-Florida at 6 p.m. The GameDay crew will be in Philadelphia for Pittsburgh's contest with Villanova.
On ESPN2, the day begins with a pair of games in Virginia - St. Louis at Richmond at noon followed by Old Dominion-VCU. North Texas faces Western Kentucky at 4 p.m., then it's Southern Miss-Memphis, Detroit meeting Butler and Northern Iowa hosting Wichita State.
ESPN returns to the Big East Sunday, with Marquette against Georgetown at 1 p.m.
CBS goes to the SEC Saturday, as Kentucky takes on Vanderbilt at 1 p.m. Sunday, it's a Big Ten matchup between Purdue and Illinois.
Comcast has Oregon at Southern Cal Thursday at 11 p.m. Virginia heads to Florida State Saturday at 3 p.m., then it's James Madison at George Mason. Arizona battles Arizona State Sunday at 9 p.m..
MASN heads to the Big South Thursday, with Charleston Southern at Winthrop Thursday at 7 p.m. Saturday, there's four games starting with Notre Dame taking on South Florida at noon. UNC-Charlotte visits Rhode Island at 2 p.m., then it's back to the Big East as DePaul goes to West Virginia.
ESPN2 has a high school contest Friday at 7:30 p.m., with Oak Hill Academy crossing the border into North Carolina and facing Christ School.
Comcast has an ACC women's doubleheader Friday - Georgia Tech at Florida State at 6:30 p.m., followed by Duke-Wake Forest. Sunday at 1 p.m., it's Florida State vs. North Carolina. On ESPN2 Sunday, it's Michigan State-Michigan at 2:30 p.m. then West Virginia meets Louisville.
CBS heads to Pebble Beach for PGA golf Saturday and Sunday starting at 3 p.m.
Before embarking on a two-week road trip, the Capitals host Los Angeles Saturday at 12:30 p.m. on Comcast. Comcast also has Carolina at Philadelphia Thursday at 7 p.m., while NBC's Sunday afternoon game matches Boston and Detroit.

XLV

You're Jerry Jones.
You're proud to have the Super Bowl at your new stadium.
You really wanted the Cowboys to be playing this weekend, but that didn't happen.

Can you name two worse teams to be at Cowboys Stadium for Super Bowl XLV?
From the AFC you have the Steelers, who beat the Cowboys in two Super Bowls. A fierce rival in the 1970s.
From the NFC you have the Packers. The team that beat Dallas in two NFL title games before the first two Super Bowls. Maybe they aren't the Redskins, but seeing either of these teams celebrate on your field won't feel quite right.
The game and commercials begin at 6:30 p.m. on FOX.
The pregame? Probably started now as you're reading this.
In college basketball, there's a split ACC doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. Wake Forest visits Maryland at 1 p.m. on NBC29, while southern areas (and Charlottesville's NBC29) have Clemson at Georgia Tech.
CBS offers either St. John's-UCLA or Illinois at Northwestern Saturday at 1 p.m., then the Big Ten battle between Michigan State and Wisconsin Sunday at 1 p.m.
Comcast goes west Thursday for Arizona State at California at 11 p.m. Saturday, Comcast starts with James Madison hosting VCU at noon before Old Dominion meets George Mason. Then it's off to the Pac-10 at 4 p.m. for Washington taking on Oregon.
The ACC game of the week is Sunday at 2 p.m., with Florida State against North Carolina.
MASN has America East action on Thursday, with Binghamton at UMBC at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, there's four Big East games starting at noon with Providence at Georgetown. Syracuse visits South Florida at 2 p.m., then Cincinnati takes on Pittsburgh at 6 p.m. followed by DePaul at Louisville.
Sunday at noon, Rutgers battles Notre Dame and Marist takes on Niagara at 3 p.m.
ESPN's Thursday schedule starts with Michigan-Ohio State at 7 p.m., followed by Notre Dame visiting DePaul. ESPN2 goes to the ACC for Georgia Tech against Miami at 7 p.m., then it's Vanderbilt-Auburn and Gonzaga battling Portland.
It's five games each for ESPN and ESPN2 on Saturday. ESPN starts the day at noon with West Virginia heading to Villanova, then it's Baylor-Texas A&M, Memphis vs. Gonzaga and North Carolina State heading to Duke. The Primetime crew watches Kentucky take on Florida at 9 p.m.
On the deuce, the day begins at noon with Butler vs. Cleveland State and Rhode Island at Temple. Iowa heads to Indiana at 4 p.m., followed by Mississippi against Arkansas and Loyola Marymount at St. Mary's.
Sunday while getting ready for the big game, Ohio State meets Minnesota at 2 p.m. on ESPN.
In women's basketball, MASN has Pittsburgh at West Virginia Saturday at 4 p.m. Comcast goes to the CAA Thursday as Towson visits Drexel at 7 p.m., then offers a pair of games Sunday - N.C. State vs. Maryland at noon and Nebraska facing Colorado at 4 p.m.
ESPN2 has high school basketball Saturday at 10 p.m. with Bishop Gorman meeting Long Beach Poly.
TNT starts its Thursday NBA doubleheader in Florida with the Heat visiting the Magic at 8 p.m. The Spurs take on the Lakers at 10:30 p.m. ESPN offers the Celtics hosting Dallas at 8 p.m. followed by Jazz-Nuggets.
Sunday on ABC, the Magic visit Boston at 2:30 p.m.
The Wizards have a pair of home games on Comcast this weekend - Friday against the Magic and Saturday against the Hawks.
CBS has the PGA tour from Phoenix Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. And don't forget to take out the trash.
The Capitals host the Penguins Sunday at 12:30 p.m. on NBC, after playing at Tampa Bay Friday on Comcast-plus.