College Football Playoff; NFL Week 17 Action: What's On This Weekend in TV Sports (Dec. 30-Jan.1)
Football action, led by the College Football Playoff, dominates the schedule of live sports events on TV over the New Year’s holiday weekend.
ESPN on New Year’s Day will air the College Football Playoff semifinal games, including top-ranked Michigan facing No. 4 Alabama in the Rose Bowl and second-ranked Washington battling No. 3 Texas in the Sugar Bowl. Also on January 1, ESPN will televise the Fiesta Bowl between No. 23 Liberty and No. 8 Oregon.
On Saturday, ESPN will televise the Cotton Bowl (No. 9 Missouri-No. 7 Ohio State), the Peach Bowl (No. 11 Ole Miss-No. 10 Penn State), and the Orange Bowl (No. 6 Georgia-No. 5 Florida State).
Week 17 of the NFL schedule will feature a Saturday ABC and ESPN simulcast of the Dallas Cowboys-Detroit Lions game. On Sunday afternoon, CBS and Fox will televise regional NFL game coverage, while NBC’s Sunday Night Football matchup will feature the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.
On the basketball court, top-ranked college basketball schools in action on Saturday include second-ranked Kansas against Wichita State on ESPN2 and third-ranked Houston against Pennsylvania on ESPN Plus. On Sunday, fourth-ranked Arizona faces Stanford. On the women’s side, Saturday’s schedule features top-ranked South Carolina meeting East Carolina on ESPN2, second-ranked UCLA playing sixth-ranked USC on the Pac12 Network, fourth-ranked Iowa meeting Minnesota on BTN, and fifth-ranked Texas battling No.10 Baylor on Fox. On Sunday, third-ranked NC State faces Virginia on ACCN.
On the soccer field, USA Network, Peacock and NBC will combine to feature nine live Premier League games over the three-day holiday weekend.
