HD Sportsman – Jan. 11-17

Our first week with no bowl games in a while, but we do get NFL playoffs to keep us warm on Saturday and Sunday (FOX, CBS various times). NBC kicks off its Sunday NHL coverage with Detroit and Chicago at 12:30 p.m. On the college basketball side, lots of ranked teams in action as conference schedules get underway this week. Side note: I’ll be at Saturday’s Illinois-MSU game, look for a guy in green. Also, the U.S. figure skating championships are on NBC this weekend, helping determine our Olympic team. Only a month until the Vancouver Games start.

SPOTLIGHT
The NFL playoffs are the big story, but to me, Arizona at New Orleans (Sat., 4:30 p.m. FOX) has some good story lines going. The Saints rebirth continues to be a great watch, and Kurt Warner coming off his magnificent performance this past weekend should make for a pass-happy, high scoring game.

Here’s the rest of the week, big games in BOLD.

Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday

MONDAY, JAN. 4

• 7 p.m. – College Basketball Villanova at Louisville (720p)
• 8 p.m. – NHL Pittsburgh at Minnesota (1080i)
• 9 p.m. – College Basketball Oklahoma State at Oklahoma (720p)

TUESDAY, JAN. 5

• 7 p.m. – College Basketball Texas A&M at Kansas State (720p)
• 7 p.m. – College Basketball Ohio State at Purdue (720p)
• 7 p.m. – NHL New Jersey at New York Rangers (1080i)
• 9 p.m. – College Basketball Kentucky vs. Florida (720p)

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 6

• 7 p.m. – College Basketball Pittsburgh at Connecticut (720p)
• 7 p.m. – College Basketball Boston College at Duke (720p)
• 7 p.m. – College Basketball Cincinnati at St. John’s (720p)
• 9 p.m. – College Basketball Kansas at Nebraska (720p)
• 9 p.m. – College Basketball North Carolina at Clemson (720p)
• 9 p.m. – College Basketball Missouri at Texas Tech (720p)

THURSDAY, JAN. 7

• 7 p.m. – College Basketball Auburn at Tennessee (720p)
• 7 p.m. – College Basketball Arkansas at Mississippi State (720p)
• 8 p.m. – NBA Chicago at Boston
• 9 p.m. – College Basketball Providence at DePaul (720p)
• 9 p.m. – College Basketball Indiana at Michigan (720p)
• 10:30 p.m. – NBA Cleveland at Utah
• 10:30 p.m. – College Basketball Stanford at Washington (720p)

FRIDAY, JAN. 8

• 8 p.m. – NBA Phoenix at Atlanta (720p)
• 10:30 p.m. – NBA Orlando at Portland (720p)

SATURDAY, JAN. 9

College Basketball

• 12 p.m. – Syracuse at West Virginia (720p)
• 1 p.m. – Missouri at Oklahoma (720p)
• 2 p.m. – Georgia Tech at North Carolina (720p)
  
• 2:30 p.m. – California at Washington (720p)
• 3 p.m. – Georgia at Mississippi State (720p)
• 3:30 p.m. – Illinois at Michigan State (1080i)
• 4:30 p.m. – Arizona at Oregon (720p)
• 6 p.m. – Texas A&M at Texas (720p)
• 8 p.m. – Miami (Fla.) at Virginia (720p)
• 9 p.m. – Notre Dame at Connecticut (720p)

Other sports

• 4:30 p.m. – U.S. Figure Skating Championships (1080i)
• 4:30 p.m. – NFL Divisional Playoffs Arizona at New Orleans (720p)
• 8 p.m. – NFL Divisional Playoffs Baltimore at Indianapolis (1080i)

SUNDAY, JAN. 10

• 12:30 p.m. – NHL Chicago at Detroit (1080i)
• 1 p.m. – NFL Divisional Playoffs Dallas at Minnesota (720p)
• 1:30 p.m. – College Basketball Connecticut at Michigan (1080i)
• 4:30 p.m. – U.S. Figure Skating Championships (1080i)
• 4:40 p.m. – NFL Divisional Playoffs N.Y. Jets at San Diego (1080i)
• 7 p.m. – Tennis Australian Open (720p)
• 9 p.m. – NBA Utah at Denver (720p)
  
• 8 p.m. – College Basketball Wake Forest at Duke (720p)