Sports Watcher for the Weekend of 3/24-25

All times PDT.

Saturday
9-11 AM: Women's College Basketball, Bowling Green v. Arizona State (ESPN). ESPN has this really weird concept, when they're showing the women's tournament, called "showing every Sweet 16 game to the entire country."

11:30-1:30 PM: Women's College Basketball, Rutgers v. Duke (ESPN). If the Duke-haters are going through withdrawl since Coach K got pwned by VCU, at least the women have a cupcake path to the Final Four.

1:30-3:30 PM: College Basketball, Ohio State v. Memphis (CBS). Memphis will lead the Buckeyes for awhile before ultimately collapsing improbably.

4-6 PM: College Basketball, Kansas v. UCLA (CBS). Two of the most storied programs in college basketball, and they're probably reduced to carrying Florida's water.

6-8 PM: Women's College Basketball, NC State v. Connecticut (ESPN). According to ESPN's advertising, NC State's run is inspiring for some reason. Hell if I know why.

8:30-10:30 PM: Women's College Basketball, Florida State v. LSU (ESPN2). "Hmm... we've got a game the majority of which will be played after midnight on the East Coast. Who should we have playing there?" "How about an East Coast team against a Central Time Zone team?" (Actually, Stanford was upset by 10-seed FSU in the second round.)

Sunday
8-9 AM: Drag Racing, NHRA Lucas Oil Series (ESPN2): Oh wait, you say April Fools' day is still a week away?

9-11 AM: Women's College Basketball, Marist v. Tennessee (ESPN). Marist has had two improbable upsets over overrated BCS teams. Now they face... Pat Summitt. Welcome to reality, Foxes.

11:30-4 PM (or 2-4 PM, see below): College Basketball, Midwest (Florida v. UNLV/Oregon) and East (Georgetown v. North Carolina/USC) regional finals (CBS). Watch Florida basically get coronated into the Final Four, and then watch an actual college basketball game. Or vice versa. Who knows?

Only if Florida is in the first CBS game
11:30-1:30 PM: Women's College Basketball, Mississippi v. Oklahoma (ESPN2). Courtney Paris has a double-double in all but three games of her collegiate career, including 60 straight. So naturally she's due for a letdown.

Honorable Mention: 10:30-3 PM: NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Racing, Food City 500 (FOX). If your bracket's busted and you don't care what happens from here on out, why not watch some history instead? This is the first NEXTEL Cup race to use the "Car of Tomorrow", the next generation of stock-car racing vehicle. Expect the sloppiest race you've ever seen, of course.

4-6 PM: Women's College Basketball, Georgia v. Purdue (ESPN2). Bet you never thought of Purdue as a power women's team. I never thought of any Big Ten team as a power women's team.

6:30-8:30 PM: Women's College Basketball, George Washington v. North Carolina (ESPN2). Hey, it's George Mason all over again!

After college basketball: Mid-Major Conference Naming Ceremony (Da Blog). One mid is in the Elite Eight, one lost in the Sweet 16, two are still playing in the Sweet 16, and the rest never made it out of the first weekend. That's good enough to name the members of the first MMC.