College football: In a preview of next month's Super Bowl, two teams that aren't the Dallas Cowboys will compete for hardware at Cowboy Stadium. It'll be No. 11 LSU and No. 17 Texas A&M facing off in the Cotton Bowl, celebrating its 75th anniversary. The Tigers, making a school-record 11th straight postseason appearance, have been battling the Aggies since 1899, but this will be the teams' first meeting since 1995. Expect big things from A&M's Butkus Award-winning linebacker Von Miller, playing in his last collegiate football game, and LSU's Patrick Peterson, who not only won the Thorpe and Bednarik awards at cornerback, but is also one of the nation's best kickoff and punt returners.
Women's college basketball: Saturday at noon the Baylor Lady Bears play for the first time since stealing the No. 1 ranking from the UConn Huskies. They'll host No. 16 Iowa State in both team's first Big 12 action of the season. Later that afternoon, UConn will visit the 12th-ranked Irish for a Big East battle. Both teams are undefeated in conference play so far this year.
Men's college basketball: On Saturday afternoon, ninth-ranked Connecticut will take on No. 12 Texas. The 11-2 Huskies are hoping to bounce back from a three-point loss to Notre Dame on Tuesday.
NBA: Tonight Amar'e Stoudemire will make his first trip back to Phoenix as a member of the Knicks. The Suns are five games under .500 this year after letting Stoudemire get away, while the Knicks are thriving under former Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni, sitting at 20-14 heading into tonight's game. The Knicks hype-o-meter will be at full throttle all weekend, as they visit the Lakers on Sunday.
The last time Chicago and Philly met, the Bulls dropped a 45-point win on the visiting 76ers. Tonight all eyes will be on Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau and All-Star big man Carlos Boozer, who was benched for the last 14 1/2 minutes of the Bulls' loss to the Nets Wednesday night. There's no doubt the first-time head coach was sending a message, so Boozer better step it up tonight, and on Saturday when the Bulls host the Celtics.
The Hornets head to La-La Land looking to avenge last week's 103-88 home loss to the Lakers. Since beating the Hornets, Los Angeles has won four of five games.
NHL: The New Jersey Devils traded their captain Jamie Langenbrunner to the Pacific-Division leading Stars today. It's not yet clear whether the veteran forward, who won a Stanley Cup with Dallas back in 1999, will be ready to take the ice with his new/old team when they take on the visiting Rangers tonight.
On Saturday, the Western Conference-leading Canucks take on the team nipping at their heels (or should I say skates?), the Detroit Red Wings.
