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The Lineup: Saturday & Sunday, September 28-29

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Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Rich Schultz/Getty Images

Old man Rivera. That old man Rivera. Send any suggestions to SI.TheLineup@gmail.com. (Bold indicates a national broadcast. All times Eastern.)

Pregame Reads

  • On the weekend that Breaking Bad comes to an end, Paul Kix of ESPN the Magazine profiles a coach dragging himself back from meth addiction.
  • EA will not publish a college football game next year. Owen Good at Kotakuhas the details.
  • Austen Lane tells his own story of being cut from an NFL team twice in a three month span and the self-doubt that comes along with it.

Starter

NFL New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons, 8:30p.m. (NBC)

I'm not sure who is more desperate for the return of Rob Gronkowski to the playing field: Patriots fans, or purveyors of viral online sports minutia. That giant lunk has provided more content to sites like this one than anyone not named Kate Upton.

Mofam

Reserves

MLB

Indians vs. Twins, 1:05p.m. (Fox), 2:10p.m.

It says a lot about baseball's declining place in the minds of American sports fans that there are only two nationally televised games on the last weekend of the season. Cleveland will have a chance to earn the Wild Card this weekend, with much thanks going to once-disgraced slugger Jason Giambi.

Pirates vs. Reds, 1:05p.m., 1:10p.m. (TBS)

Rays vs. Blue Jays, 1:07p.m., 1:07p.m.

Padres vs. Giants, 4:05p.m., 4:05p.m.

Brewers vs. Mets, 4:10p.m., 1:10p.m.

Athletics vs. Mariners, 4:10p.m., 4:10p.m.

Red Sox vs. Orioles, 7:05p.m., 1:35p.m.

Tigers vs. Marlins, 7:10p.m., 1:10p.m.

Royals vs. White Sox, 7:10p.m., 2:10p.m.

Yankees vs. Astros, 7:10p.m., 2:10p.m.

Phillies vs. Braves, 7:10p.m., 1:35p.m.

Cubs vs. Cardinals, 7:15p.m., 2:15p.m.

Angels vs. Rangers, 8:05p.m., 3:05p.m.

National vs. Diamondbacks, 8:10p.m., 4:10p.m.

Rockies vs. Dodgers, 9:10p.m., 4:10p.m.

NFL

Baltimore Ravens vs. Buffalo Bills, 1:00p.m. (CBS)

Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Minnesota Vikings, 1:00p.m. (CBS)

Sending two 0-3 teams to London may be some sort of passive-agressive diplomatic shot at the U.K. for declining to support a strike on Syria. The Vikings will be starting backup Matt Cassel, who's hopefully more coordinated with a helmet than a ballcap.

matt_cassel_hat

Indianapolis Colts vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, 1:00p.m. (CBS)

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Cleveland Browns, 1:00p.m. (CBS)

Arizona Cardinals vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1:00p.m. (Fox)

New York Giants vs. Kansas City Chiefs, 1:00p.m. (Fox)

Seattle Seahawks vs. Houston Texans, 1:00p.m. (Fox)

Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions, 1:00p.m. (Fox)

New York Jets vs. Tennessee Titans, 4:05p.m. (CBS)

Washington Redskins vs. Oakland Raiders, 4:25p.m. (Fox)

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Denver Broncos, 4:25p.m. (Fox)

Dallas Cowboys vs. San Diego Chargers, 4:25p.m. (Fox)

College Football

#11 Oklahoma State vs. West Virginia, 12:00p.m. (ESPN)

#12 South Carolina vs. UCF, 12:00p.m. (ABC)

#15 Miami (FL) vs. South Florida, 12:00p.m (ESPNU)

Miami (OH) vs. Illinois, 12:00p.m. (BTN)

Northern Illinois vs. Purdue, 12:00p.m. (ESPN2)

Southern Methodist vs. TCU, 12:00p.m. (Fox Sports 1)

East Carolina vs. North Carolina, 12:30p.m. (ESPN3)

Virginia vs. Pittsburgh, 12:30p.m. (ESPN3)

Navy vs. Western Kentucky, 2:00p.m. (ESPNEWS)

Akron vs. Bowling Green, 2:30p.m. (ESPN3)

Troy vs. Duke, 3:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Colorado vs. Oregon State, 3:00p.m. (Pac 12 Network)

Toledo vs. Ball State, 3:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Wake Forest vs. #3 Clemson, 3:30p.m. (ESPNU)

#6 LSU vs. #9 Georgia, 3:30p.m. (CBS)

#8 Florida State vs. Boston College, 3:30p.m. (ABC or ESPN2)

#14 Oklahoma vs. #22 Notre Dame, 3:30p.m. (NBC)

UTEP vs. Colorado State, 3:30p.m. (CBS Sports)

Iowa vs. Minnesota, 3:30p.m. (ABC or ESPN2)

Central Michigan vs. North Carolina State, 3:30p.m. (ESPN3)

Connecticut vs. Buffalo, 3:30p.m. (ESPN3)

Army vs. Louisiana Tech, 4:00p.m. (Fox Sports 1)

#21 Ole Miss vs. #1 Alabama, 6:30p.m. (ESPN)

#10 Texas A&M vs. Arkansas, 7:00p.m. (ESPN2)

Arizona vs. #16 Washington, 7:00p.m. (Fox)

#20 Florida vs. Kentucky, 7:00p.m. (ESPNU)

Wyoming vs. Texas State, 7:00p.m. (Longhorn Network)

Tulane vs. Louisiana-Monroe, 7:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Kent State vs. Western Michigan, 7:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Arkansas State vs. Missouri, 7:30p.m. (ESPN3)

UAB vs. Vanderbilt, 7:30p.m. (ESPN3)

Brown vs. Harvard, 7:30p.m. (NBC Sports & Live Extra)

#23 Wisconsin vs. #4 Ohio State, 8:00p.m. (ABC)

San Diego State vs. New Mexico State, 8:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Air Force vs. Nevada, 8:00p.m. (CBS Sports)

#5 Stanford vs. Washington State, 10:00p.m. (ESPN)

Southern Miss vs. Boise State, 10:15p.m. (ESPNU)

California vs. #2 Oregon, 10:30p.m. (Pac 12 Network)

USC vs. Arizona State, 10:30p.m. (ESPN2)

Cowardly Copout of the Week

South Alabama vs. Tennessee, 12:20p.m. (ESPN3)

Don't expect a lot of mercy for the poor Jaguars of South Alabama. Tennessee has been bullied recently—losing its last two games against Oregon and Florida by a combined score of 90-31—and will need a confidence boost before facing three top-12 teams in its next three games.

WNBA

Conference Semifinals

Atlanta Dream vs. Indiana Fever, 3:00p.m. (ESPN2)

Minnesota Lynx vs. Phoenix Mercury, 5:00p.m. (ESPN2)

There's no love lost between these two teams, though they do have an interesting way of showing it. I don't recall seeing a Tony Parker- LeBron James smooch in the NBA Finals this year. (Maybe I just missed it.)

diana-taurasi-kiss-o

Canadian Football

Saturday

Calgary Stampeders vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 6:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Toronto Argonauts vs. Edmonton Eskimos, 9:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Sunday

Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. Montreal Alouettes, 1:00p.m. (ESPN3)

MLS

Saturday

D.C. United vs. Toronto F.C., 1:00p.m.

Real Salt Lake vs. Vancouver Whitecaps, 7:00p.m.

Houston Dynamo vs. New England Revolution, 7:30p.m.

Montreal Impact vs. Chicago Fire, 8:30p.m.

Sunday

L.A. Galaxy vs. Portland Timbers, 3:30p.m. (NBC)

Columbus Crew vs. FC Dallas, 8:30p.m.

New York Red Bulls vs. Seattle Sounders, 9:00p.m. (ESPN)

San Jose Earthquakes vs. Chivas USA, 11:00p..m. (UniMas)

English Premier League

Saturday

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Chelsea, 7:00a.m. (NBC Sports & Live Extra))

Aston Villa vs. Manchester City, 9:45a.m. (NBC Sports & Live Extra)

Southampton vs. Crystal Palace, 10:00a.m. (Live Extra)

Fulham vs. Cardiff City, 10:00a.m. (Live Extra)

Hull City vs. West Ham United, 10:00a.m. (Live Extra)

Manchester United vs. West Bromwich Albion, 10:00a.m. (Live Extra)

Swansea vs. Arsenal, 12:30p.m. (NBC & Live Extra)

Sunday

Stoke City vs. Norwich City, 8:00a.m. (NBC Sports & Live Extra)

Sunderland vs. Liverpool, 10:30a.m. (NBC Sports & Live Extra)

Soccer

Saturday

Dutch League: AZ Alkmaar vs. PSV, 12:40p.m. (ESPN Deportes & ESPN3)

Sunday

FIFA Beach World Cup Final, 2:18a.m. (ESPN3)

Brazil League: Sao Paulo vs. Gremio, 4:00p.m. (ESPN Deportes)

Mexico League: Puebla FC vs. Xolos de Tijuana, 12:50p.m. (ESPN Deportes)

Racing

Saturday

NASCAR Nationwide Series at Dover, 3:30p.m. (ESPN)

Camping World Truck Series in Las Vegas, 8:30p.m. (Fox Sports 1)

Sunday

Motorcycle: FIM Moto GP, 8:00a.m. (Fox Sports 1)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Dover, 2:00p.m. (ESPN)

AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals, 8:30p.m. (ESPN3)

Canadian Football

Saturday

Calgary Stampeders vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 6:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Toronto Argonauts vs. Edmonton Eskimos, 9:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Sunday

Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. Montreal Alouettes, 1:00p.m. (ESPN3)

College Sports

Saturday

Women's Volleyball: TCU vs. Kansas, 2:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Women's Volleyball: Northern Illinois vs. Bowling Green, 7:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Sunday

Men's Soccer: Florida Gulf Coast vs. Princeton, 4:00p.m. (ESPNU)

Women's Soccer: Creighton vs. St. John's, 1:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Women's Soccer: Florida State vs. Clemson, 1:00p.m. (EPSN3)

Women's Soccer: Boston College vs. North Carolina State, 1:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Women's Soccer: Florida vs. Missouri, 2:00p.m. (ESPNU)

Women's Soccer: Tennessee vs. Alabama, 2:00p.m. (ESPNU)

Women's Soccer: Georgia vs. Kentucky, 6:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Women's Volleyball: Georgia Tech vs. Pittsburgh, 2:00p.m. (ESPN3)

Golf

Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, 8:30a.m. Saturday & 8:00a.m. Sunday (Golf)

Web.com Tour Championship, 3:00p.m. Saturday & Sunday (Golf)

Champions Tour: Nature Valley First Tee Open, 6:30p.m. Saturday & 7:00p.m. Sunday (Golf)

Boxing

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Brain Vera, 10:15p.m. Saturday (HBO)

TV 

Saturday

Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction, 3:00p.m. Saturday (National Geographic)

Sunday

The Jones and Moseley Show, 6:00p.m. (Fox Sports 1)

The Amazing Race, 8:00p.m. Sunday (CBS)

Home Stretch

Breaking Bad, Sunday, 9:00p.m. (AMC)

Everything listed above is just an appetizer.

Birthdays

Saturday

Ryan Zimmerman, Washington Nationals Third Baseman, 29

Dustin Penner, Anaheim Ducks Left Wing, 31

Anderson Varejao, Cleveland Cavaliers Forward, 31

Jose Calderon, Dallas Mavericks Guard, 32

Se Ri Pak, LPGA Golfer, 36

Steve Largent, NFL Hall of Fame Wide Receiver, 59

Sunday

Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder Forward, 25

Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions Wide Receiver, 28

John Paxson, Former NBA Shooting Guard, 53

Bryant Gumbel, Sports Broadcaster, 65