Getting Ready For The Big Game Day

Missed some of the Super Bowl hype and hoopla – or is it hoop and hypla? – during the week. You can catch up most of Sunday as the clock ticks slowly toward the kickoff of Super Bowl LIII at 6:30 p.m. ET.

CBS has the honor of showing the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams from Atlanta. The Patriots are in their third straight Super Bowl while the Rams are one of the NFL’s rising powers. The Patriots are seeking a sixth title under the guidance of coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.

The Patriots are favored by 2 ½ points; the over/under is 56 ½ points. There are no odds on how many fans might expire from CBS’ planned seven hours of pregame festivities that begin at 11:30 a.m. One newsy portion will examine the host city of Atlanta’s role in the civil rights movement; featured are interviews of Bernice King, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s daughter, and former Atlanta mayor and UN Ambassador Andrew Young.

Feel free to drop your heiner in the recliner at around 6 p.m. for team introductions and other gab.
If you want to start the weekend off in a football-free state of mind, look to FS1 at 9 p.m. on Friday night for a matchup of ranked Big Ten teams in college basketball. No. 21 Maryland and big, bad Bruno Fernando visit No. 24 Wisconsin.

Saturday also has some games pitting ranked teams. We like No. 9 North Carolina traveling to No. 15 Louisville in the ACC for a 2 p.m. tipoff on ESPN, and No. 16 Texas Tech venturing into No. 11 Kansas’ venerable home at 4 p.m. on CBS to uphold the Big 12’s honor.

Moving up a level in the basketball world will allow you the pleasure of the NBA and Saturday night’s Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors meeting at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.

The PGA Tour inches further eastward with the Waste Management Phoenix Open. Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler and Harold Varner III were tied for the lead after Thursday’s first round. The event concludes on Sunday with Golf Channel televising the final round from 1-3 p.m. and NBC picking it up from 3-6 p.m.

A great weekend? Simply Super.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman