There’s nothing really special about November 21st. It’s not a holiday. There isn’t some sort of sporting tradition on this day. Yet, looking at the slate of sports on television today, one could wonder if we’re going to get a better day of sports over the rest of the year.
In the college football world, the schedule is loaded. Michigan takes on Penn State as both teams cling to a chance of winning the Big Ten East Division. The two teams ahead of them also do battle as should-be unbeaten Michigan State travels to Columbus to take on the unbeaten reigning National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes. Hell, the Big Ten even has another battle of ranked teams, as eight win Northwestern takes on eight win Wisconsin. In the Pac-12, USC takes on Oregon, and UCLA battles Utah. The SEC schedule this week is kind of light, but LSU-Ole Miss is still one hell of a matchup. There are also a couple of marquee battles in Big 12, as Oklahoma State hosts Baylor and Oklahoma welcomes TCU to Norman.
The college hoops schedule kind of sucks as we still slog through the early rounds of preseason tournaments. But hey, UNC takes on Northern Iowa, and they made the tournament last year. That’s something, right?
In the NBA, two games immediately stand out – a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals from a few months ago between the Hawks and Cavaliers, and a Grizzlies-Spurs matchup that looks awesome on paper.
If you’re into tennis, can I interest you in Djokovic-Nadal and/or Federer-Wawrinka? Those are four of the top five men’s players in the world battling in out in the semifnals of the ATP World Tour Finals.
Boxing even gets in on the act, with Miguel Cotto squaring off with Canelo Alvarez. That’s one hell of a matchup.
Finally, there’s soccer, which is having a ridiculous day in multiple leagues. The Premier League’s early schedule isn’t great until we hit the 12:30 slot, when Manchester City welcomes Liverpool to the Etihad. In Spain, we have our first El Clasico of the year between Barcelona and Real Madrid, which could feature Lionel Messi’s return to Barca’s Starting XI. In the Bundesliga, a still unbeaten Bayern Munich travels to Gelsenkirchen to take on a Schalke side that drew Bayern twice last year. Hell, there’s even a history-laden matchup between Italy’s two most successful clubs as Juventus hosts AC Milan.
Buckle up, folks – it’s going to be one hell of a day, no matter which sport is your favorite.
