First slam finishes up

Down under, it's summer. So tennis goes there for the first Grand Slam.
The Australian Open crowns its women's champion very late Friday night 3:30 a.m. , to be specific (Saturday evening in Australia) and holds the mens final late Saturday night.
Serena Williams goes for another Grand Slam title against Justine Henin. The men have one more semifinal Thursday night, with the winner facing Andy Murray in the final.
While waiting for the Colts and Saints to head to Miami for Super Bowl XLIV, the NFL has a change for you. The Pro Bowl will be played ahead of the big game this year, also in Miami. ESPN has the coverage, starting at 7:20 p.m. Sunday.
The college football all-star season closes with the Senior Bowl Saturday on NFL Network at 4 p.m. Florida's Tim Tebow will show the pro football world what he can do, a week before he's featured on a pro-life ad.
The NBA begins its Sunday run on ABC this weekend. Denver visits San Antonio in the opener at 1 p.m., then it's the Lakers at Celtics.
TNT's Thursday doubleheader will be Celtics at Orlando and Dallas-Phoenix. The Wizards visit New Jersey Friday on Comcast-plus, then host the Knicks Saturday.
For your college basketball, Comcast has the big matchup between Virginia and Virginia Tech Thursday at 7 p.m.
Later Thursday, Comcast goes west to show UCLA facing Oregon. Saturday, it's CAA games at noon (James Madison-George Mason) and 4 p.m. (Old Dominion-Northeastern), surrounding St. Louis at Richmond from the A-10. Sunday night there's an ACC doubleheader, with Maryland at Clemson at 5:30 p.m. followed by Virginia-North Carolina.
CBS will show Duke at Georgetown Saturrday at 1 p.m., and Sunday offer either Florida at Tennesee or Minnesota-Ohio State.
The ACC package shows Florida State against Boston College Saturday at 3 p.m., then Virginia Tech visits Miami Sunday at 1 p.m. on NBC29.
ESPN starts its basketball weekend Thursday with Wisconsin at Purdue. ESPN2 offers Seton Hall at South Florida at 7 p.m., followed by Mississippi State at Arkansas and Gonzaga-Santa Clara.
Saturday, ESPN starts with Louisville-West Virginia at noon. Then it's Indiana's visit to Illinois, Vanderbilt traveling to No. 1 (and undefeated no longer) Kentucky and Kansas at Kansas State at 7 p.m. ESPN2 goes with LaSalle-Temple at noon, then Oklahoma State at Missouri. Notre Dame takes on Rutgers at 6 p.m.
MASN has a CAA game Thursday - Georgia State at Old Dominion - and five games on Saturday. Two from the Big East start it off at noon - Marquette at UConn and Syracuse-DePaul. Then it's Siena vs. Marist, Towson at UNC-Wilmington from the CAA and High Point takes on Gardner-Webb at 8 p.m. Sunday, it's Pittsburgh visiting South Florida at 1 p.m.
ESPN2 has a women's doubleheader Sunday, Purdue at Iowa followed by Baylor-Texas.
To whet your Winter Olympics' appetite, ESPN will show the Winter X games throughout the weekend.
The Capitals host a pair of Southeast Division rivals this weekend, with the Panthers in town Friday and Lightning Sunday afternoon. NBC shows the Red Wings at Penguins Sunday afternoon.
The PGA tour returns to CBS Saturday and Sunday, with the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Tiger Woods won't be there, but plenty of good golfers will.

Who's going to the Super Bowl?

The NFL is down to its Final Four. Two tickets for Miami will be punched Sunday.
Actually, four tickets. The losing coaches and some of their players will be at the Pro Bowl Jan. 31, when the winners arrive in town for the big game.
CBS gets the first game - Jets at Colts. The teams met in Super Bowl III and spent 32 years in the same division. Their Week 16 meeting ended the Colts' perfect season and propelled the Jets into the playoffs.
FOX closes its NFL season with the Vikings at Saints. The Saints have never been to the Super Bowl and never hosted a conference championship game. Expect the Superdome to be super-loud.
Brett Favre won his Super Bowl at the Superdome XIII years ago. The Vikings have lost their four Super Bowl trips, the last during the waning days of the Ford administration.
The college champ may be crowned, but there's still a few all-star games left to play. The East-West Shrine Game will be on ESPN2 Saturday at 3 p.m. from Orlando. Hopefully the Citrus Bowl grass will hold up this time.
If you're gearing up for the Winter Olympics, NBC has the U.S. Figure Skating championships this weekend. There's preliminary skating in the afternoon and finals Saturday and Sunday from 9 p.m. to 11.
State ACC teams will be on the TV Saturday. Virginia Tech hosts Boston College at 1:30 p.m., then Virginia goes to Wake Forest at 4 p.m. Sunday, it's Georgia Tech vs. Florida State at noon on NBC29.
CBS has a triple-header Saturday. The noon slot offers either Michigan State at Minnesota or Mississippi State vs. Alabama. At 2 p.m., it's either Ohio State-West Virginia or Oregon State-California, then 4 p.m. features Texas visiting Connecticut.
ESPN's college basketball schedule starts Thursday with Louisville at Seton Hall at 7 p.m ., followed by Florida-Arkansas. ESPN2 has Indiana vs. Penn State at 7 p.m., then Friday it's Wofford visiting Charleston.
Saturday, ESPN has five games on the schedule. St. John's vs. Villanova starts the day at noon, followed by Kansas at Iowa State, Michigan-Purdue and South Carolina going to Florida. Duke's trip to Clemson closes the night at 9 p.m. ESPN2 shows at Middle Tennessee meeting Western Kentucky at 1 p.m., then Maryland against N.C. State at 6 p.m. and Houston at Memphis at 8 p.m.
MASN offers late night hoops Thursday - Utah State at Fresno State - then starts Saturday with two Big East games - Rutgers at Georgetown at noon followed by DePaul-Notre Dame. Then it's CAA (George Mason at Towson), Big South (Liberty at Radford) and more CAA (James Madison vs. UNC-Wilmington).
Two more Big East games kick off Sunday's coverage - Cincinnati at Louisville at noon, then Pittsburgh at Seton Hall. Rider faces Niagara at 4 p.m.
ESPN2 has women's basketball Sunday afternoon - Michigan State at Minnesota.
TNT's NBA doubleheader has L.A. teams as the visitor - Lakers at Cavaliers at 8 p.m., then the Clippers at Denver. The Lakers invade New York Friday on ESPN, followed by the Bulls at Phoenix.
The Wizards host Miami Friday and then the Clippers Sunday afternoon on Comcast.
The Capitals visit Pittsburgh Thursday, then host the Coyotes Saturday on Comcast. NBC offers a choice Sunday - Penguins at Flyers or Bruins at Hurricanes.
It's the middle of the Australian Open's two week run. Coverage on ESPN2 begins at 9 p.m. Thursday and Friday, at 10 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday.
The PGA tour heads to California for the Bob Hope Classic on Golf Network. If you're disappointed with your round, you can chat up Dr. Phil or some other celebrity.

Best football weekend of the year

You know Chris Berman's happy this week. He just loves this NFL weekend.
Four games.
Best four teams of the regular season hosting.
Winners move one step closer to the Super Bowl.
The highlight game - Baltimore at the Colts (Saturday at 8 p.m.). The last time the Super Bowl was played in South Florida, these teams met in this round. The road team (the Colts) won that meeting en route to their Super Bowl XLI championship.
I think it would be nice for the road team to win Saturday and send the Ravens on their way to Super Bowl XLIV.
The NFL weekend starts on FOX Saturday at 4:30 p.m., when NFC top-seed New Orleans faces Arizona. The Cardinals were part of the highest-scoring postseason game last week, and the Saints hope to resume the offensive firepower that gave them a 13-0 record to start the season.
Sunday, FOX has the early game as Dallas takes on Minnesota. Tony Romo vs. Brett Favre. Romo finally got his playoff win last week, and Favre keeps coming back in hopes of winning one more Super Bowl.
CBS has the final game of the weekend, with the New York Jets visiting San Diego. The Chargers ended the season with 11 straight wins. If the Jets and Ravens both win, then there's one more game at the Meadowlands.
Going indoors, the ACC has a pair of college basketball contests on the air Saturday - Clemson at N.C. State at noon, and Maryland-Boston College at 4 p.m.
CBS hangs in Michigan for its college basketball coverage, showing Illinois visiting Michigan State Saturday and UConn vs. the Wolverines Sunday.
ESPN starts the weekend Thursday with two games - Seton Hall at Georgetown at 7 p.m., followed by Indiana-Michigan. ESPN2 goes with three contests - Auburn vs. Tennessee, followed by Providence-DePaul and Gonzaga-St. Mary's.
Saturday's slate starts at noon on ESPN with Syracuse visiting West Virginia, then North Carolina-Georgia Tech. ESPN2 has five games, starting at 11 a.m. with Dayton at Xavier. The day concludes at 9 p.m. with Prairie View A&M at Jackson State.
MASN's college basketball schedule starts Thursday with Gardner-Webb at Liberty at 7 p.m., followed by Fresno State vs. Louisiana Tech. Saturday, they show Louisville-Pittsburgh at noon, with Oklahoma State vs. Baylor at 4 p.m. and UNC-Asheville taking on Liberty at 7 p.m.
Sunday there's three Big East games, starting with Georgetown at Villanova at noon. DePaul meets St. John's at 2 p.m., followed by Providence at Marquette.
Comcast offers two games Thursday - James Madison at William and Mary at 7 p.m. and Stanford facing Washington at 10:30 p.m. - then Saturday has Madison hosting George Mason at 2 p.m. Then it's LaSalle-Richmond and Virginia Tech against Florida State on Comcast-plus.
Sunday night, Wake Forest takes on Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Going up against the NFL playoffs Saturday night, ESPN decides to show the big women's basketball matchup between No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 1 Connecticut.
MASN has Big East women's basketball Saturday - Louisville at Georgetown at 2 p.m. Comcast features the Maryland women at North Carolina Sunday at 5:30 p.m.
TNT's Thursday NBA doubleheader features the Bulls at Celtics at 8 p.m., followed by the Cavaliers in Utah. ESPN offers Phoenix at Atlanta early and Orlando's visit to Portland in the nightcap.
The Wizards travel to Chicago Friday, then start a four-game homestand Saturday against Sacramento on Comcast.
The Capitals host the Maple Leafs Friday and Flyers Sunday afternoon on Comcast. NBC's regular season NHL coverage begins Sunday with the Blackhawks visiting Detroit.
The PGA tour has another event on Golf Network, the Sony Open.
The Australian Open begins its two-week run Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

Crown your champs

College football will crown its national champion tonight. And this weekend, the NFL begins its road to the Super Bowl championship.
It's finally time for the last of 34 college bowls - No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 2 Texas in the national championship game at the Rose Bowl Thursday on ABC.
The Longhorns return to the site of their 2005 national championship win. But the Southeastern Conference has won the three title games since then.
The NFL is down to its 12-team playoff field. NBC has the doubleheader Saturday with the Jets visiting Cincinnati at 4:30 p.m. and the Eagles at Cowboys at 8 p.m.
Sunday, the Patriots host the Ravens on CBS at 1 p.m., and FOX offers the Packers at Cardinals at 4:30 p.m.
The winners advance to the conference semifinals, where the Colts, Chargers, Saints and Vikings await.
College basketball begins to fill the TV schedule this weekend.
There's a pair of ACC games Saturday - N.C. State at Virginia at noon on NBC29, then Clemson visiting Boston College at 4 p.m. on the CW29 channel.
CBS features Kansas against Tennesee Sunday after NFL coverage.
ESPN offers a Saturday doubleheader starting at noon, with Connecticut taking on Georgetown, then Duke at Georgia Tech. ESPN2 gives you four games, starting with Florida at Vanderbilt at noon.
Saturday MASN features four Big East games starting at noon, with a CAA contest between George Mason and UNC-Wilmington sandwiched in the middle at 4 p.m. Sunday, South Florida heads to Syracuse at 2 p.m.
Comcast goes with the CAA Saturday, showing Towson at James Madison at 2 p.m. followed by Hofstra at Old Dominion. For your late-night hoops, there's USC at California at 10:30 p.m.
Sunday there's an ACC doubleheader starting at 5:30 p.m. - Florida State at Maryland, then Virginia Tech visits North Carolina. The Pac-10 gets coverage on either side of those games - Washington State at Arizona State at 3 p.m. and Oregon-Oregon State in the nightcap.
Women's basketball gets some network attention Saturday. CBS will show Ohio State visits Michigan State at 2 p.m., then North Carolina heads to Connecticut.
ESPN2 has a pair of women's games Sunday afternoon - Temple at Xavier at 3 p.m., followed by Southern Miss vs. Marshall.
ESPN's Friday NBA doubleheader features the Celtics at Hawks early and Cleveland at Denver in the nightcap. ESPN also shows Cleveland Sunday night, as the road trip continues at Portland.
The Wizards have a pair of home games this weekend - Orlando Friday and New Orleans Sunday afternoon - on Comcast.
The Capitals host Ottawa Thursday, and visit Atlanta Saturday on Comcast.
PGA starts year in Hawaii on Golf Network throughout the weekend.