No controversy, just champions

Some people love the college football bowl system -- most of them guys in suits who make a bunch of money off it.

There are also those who love the controversy, but for those who want to see championships decided on the field, this is for you: Five NCAA championships will be decided this weekend.

Football Championship Subdivision championship . . .

Delaware vs. Appalachian State (tonight, 5, ESPN2): Yes, the title of the game sounds repetitive, but that’s what happens when you change the name from Division I-AA. The champion could be repetitive as well -- Appalachian State is going for its third consecutive title.

Northwest Missouri State vs. Valdosta State (Saturday, 9 a.m., ESPN2) is what used to be the Division II championship and Mount Union (Ohio) vs. Wisconsin Whitewater (Saturday, 1 p.m., ESPN) is a rematch of the last two Division III title games, both won by Mount Union.

In the non-football division . . .

Division I women’s volleyball championship (Saturday, 6 p.m., ESPN2), and Division I men’s soccer championship (Sunday, noon, ESPN2).

Get your bowl fix early, complete with controversy, in the high school football bowls . . .

Corona Centennial vs. Concord De La Salle (Saturday, 7:30 p.m., FSN Prime Ticket): Some say City Section champion Birmingham should be in the Division I State Championship Bowl instead of Centennial. BCS haters chimed in with “They should settle it on the field!�

Warm-up games are Modesto Central Catholic vs. Ventura St. Bonaventure (Saturday, 11:30 a.m., Prime Ticket) in Division III and Novato vs. Oceanside (Saturday, 3:30 p.m., Prime Ticket) in Division II.

Saturday night not-so special . . .

Cincinnati Bengals at San Francisco 49ers (Saturday, 5 p.m., NFL Network): Those of you who don’t get the NFL Network will be happy to know you aren’t going to miss much.

Grudge match . . .

New York Jets at New England Patriots (Sunday, 10 a.m., Ch. 2): The Patriots are 23-point favorites, meaning it might make better television if coaches Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini met at midfield and settled their differences in a Mixed Martial Arts fight.

The whole 61,361 yards . . .

Green Bay Packers at St. Louis Rams (Sunday, 10 a.m., Ch. 11): One of the few passing records Brett Favre doesn’t already have should go down as he needs only 184 yards to eclipse Dan Marino’s career mark of 61,361.

Action Jackson . . .

Lakers at Golden State (tonight, 7:30, Ch. 9, ESPN): Coach Phil Jackson has had some time to spend some of the money he earned with his contract extension, with only one game in seven days before Thursday. This, however, is the second of six games in a nine-day stretch. And it’s against the same Golden State team that took down San Antonio on Tuesday.

On the road again . . .

Clippers at Memphis (tonight, 5, Ch. 5): This will be the fifth road game in the last six for the Clippers. Even when they come home they can’t get a break because they’ll be the visitors in their own building on Sunday (see next entry).

A rivalry without a name . . .

Clippers at Lakers (Sunday, 6:30 p.m., FSN West, Ch. 5): Now that we have the Freeway Faceoff between the Kings and Ducks to go along with the Freeway Series between the Dodgers and Angels, we need a name for this. It might be difficult to incorporate “freeway� into it, though, since they share the same building. Maybe we could call it the “We took the same freeway as you did to get here tipoff.� Or, “The showdown at the intersection of the 10 and 110 freeways.�

Still waiting for Scott Niedermayer . . .

Minnesota at Ducks (tonight, 7, Prime Ticket): Niedermayer is with the team, but you might not see him because there is no room for him on the roster unless there is a trade. If that doesn’t happen today there’s always hope to see him during San Jose at Ducks (Sunday, 5 p.m., Prime Ticket).

Anyone seen our goalie? . . .

Minnesota at Kings (Saturday, 7:30 p.m., FSN West): Those who bash hockey for not enough scoring should be enjoying the Kings. Through Wednesday’s games, they had given up a league-high 103 goals. Probably doing it to get better TV ratings.

Starting a new streak . . .

Idaho State at UCLA (Saturday, 5 p.m., FSN West): The No. 8 Bruins’ 25-game home win streak ended against Texas, so what better way to start a new one than against the Bengals (2-6)?

Legends in their own time . . .

NFL Legends (Saturday, 2 p.m., Ch. 7): This one-hour special, narrated by Tom Selleck, takes a look at the lives and careers of Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks Tom Brady, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning.

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