Weekend Primer

Your guide to the weekend, SIOC style.

Utah vs. Utah State "Blood Battle," 9:30 a.m.Utah State hasn't fared well against Utah on the football field of late, but the Aggies can make up for it this week. If they top the Red Cross blood donations of Utah students they'll win the annual Blood Battle and earn bragging rights ... at least until the two teams meet on the gridiron September 13th.

"Lunch on the Turf," Syracuse Carrier Dome, 11:45 a.m.You can't count the number of standard "look how great our school is" orientation events around the country this weekend, but a picnic on the field of the largest collegiate dome in the country actually sounds like fun. And with only two Big East football wins in the last three years, a hearty meal might be the most fun students have at the Carrier Dome this fall. In other orientation news, the University of Arizona library is having students learn about research the only way kids these days know how -- by mimicking a reality TV show.

Classic College Football, Michigan at Northwestern, Big Ten Network, 12 a.m.What better way for a Comcast subscriber to celebrate the Big Ten Network's long awaited appearance on his or her television screen than watching one of the Wolverines' most traumatizing defeats of the last 10 years.

Pilot Penn Tennis Finals, Yale UniversityMale Yalies get a chance to ogle Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova, the long, leggy blonde currently ranked No. 12 in the world. On the men's side, American Mardy Fish looks to win his first title since 2006. (Male Yalies are free to ogle him too.)

Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Present "Bellobration," University of Texas, 7:30 p.m.The circus is here! It's just as exciting as Olympic gymnastics, but with more animals and fewer judges unfairly favoring the Chinese.

U.S. Amateur Golf Championship Match Play Final, 8 a.m.No champion has defended his title since a skinny Stanford sophomore named Tiger Woods did it in 1996, and it won't happen again this year (2007 champion Colt Knost of SMU decided to turn pro.) That leaves the door open for Oklahoma State's Kevin Tway, Charlotte's Corey Nagy, Duke's Jeff Edelman and a host of others to grab the title in Sunday's final.

Men's Soccer Exhibition, No/ 6 Creighton at No. 9 Ohio State, 12 p.m.Last year the Buckeyes lost a heartbreaker to Wake Forest in the NCAA championship game. The first indications of whether this year's team is good enough to return to the title game will come on Sunday against a Creighton team that's made 16-consecutive NCAA tournaments.