The Weekend Ahead!

We’ve got a tasty collection of programs for you to sample over this pre-holiday weekend and we know you will savor ever one. But first, a look back at the NFL’s Thursday night game …

In what could be the Rams’ last game in St. Louis, the home team triumphed 31-23 over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after building a 21-3 halftime lead. It is possible the Rams will be leaving St. Louis after 21 years for Los Angeles and a half-filled stadium showed the general antipathy of the fans for a team short on loyalty and about to complete its eighth consecutive season without a winning record.

Now, on to better things and better days. Let us start popping the tops this very Friday evening.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Mount Union is playing for the Division III championship again. The Purple Raiders (14-0) are in the title game for the 11th straight year, but haven’t won it since 2012 when they played Friday night’s opponent – St. Thomas of Minnesota. The Tommies (14-0) have only been in one other title game – that 28-10 loss to Mount Union in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, contested in Salem, Va. Game time is 7 p.m. ET on ESPNU.

Also, the 40-game bowl slate begins on Saturday. The Celebration Bowl in Atlanta is a new one and it’s on at noon E.T. on ABC. It matches Alcorn A&M (9-3) and North Carolina A&T (9-2) in the championship game of the historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

WOMEN’S COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL

Texas and Nebraska meet on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET in Omaha for the national title. Texas is in the championship match for the first time since 2012, when it last won the title.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

No. 12 Villanova (8-1) at No. 8 Virginia (8-1). Tips at noon ET on Saturday as part of a two-game home-and-home series (the next meeting is in 2016-17). The teams last clashed in the NIT after the 2003-04 season.

NFL

Carolina Panthers (13-0) at New York Giants (6-7): Carolina carries the weight of the unbeaten streak; the Giants are in a three-way tie for first place in the NFC East.
Denver Broncos (10-3) at Pittsburgh Steelers (8-5): The Steelers have won their last two and still think they can catch the Cincinnati Bengals (10-3) in the AFC North.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .