All Times Eastern

College Basketball
Men's
WCC Tournament, Las Vegas, NV
First Round
Loyola Marymount vs. Portland -- BYU TV, 9 p.m.

Michigan at Purdue -- Big Ten Network, 7 p.m.
North Carolina at Maryland -- ESPN, 7 p.m.
Georgetown at Villanova -- ESPN2, 7 p.m.
Oklahoma State at Iowa State -- ESPNU, 7 p.m.
Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth -- CBS Sports Network, 8 p.m.
USC at Washington -- Pac-12 Network, 8:30 p.m.
Minnesota at Nebraska -- Big Ten Network, 9 p.m.
West Virginia at Oklahoma -- ESPN2, 9 p.m.
UConn at South Florida -- ESPNU, 9 p.m.
New Mexico at Nevada -- CBS Sports Network, 10 p.m.
UCLA at Washington State -- Pac-12 Network, 10:30 p.m.
Stanford at Cal -- ESPN2, 11 p.m.

Big Ten Tip-Off Show -- Big Ten Network, 6;30 p.m.
Courtside with Seth Davis -- CBS Sports Network, 6:30 p.m.
Inside College Basketball -- CBS Sports Network, 7:30 p.m.
Big Ten Finale '12-'13 -- Big Ten Network, 11 p.m.
College Basketball Live -- ESPNU, 11 p.m.
College Basketball Live -- ESPN2, 1 a.m. (Thursday)

College Lacrosse
Maryland-Baltimore County at Maryland -- ESPNU, 5 p.m.

Cycling
Paris-Nice, Stage 3: Chatel-Guyon to Brioude -- NBC Sports Network, midnight (delayed)

Golf
On the Range: WGC-Cadillac Championship -- Golf Channel, 8 p.m.

MLB Spring Training
Washington vs. Philadelphia -- The Comcast Network, 1 p.m./MLB Network, 9 p.m.

Baseball Tonight -- ESPN2, 3 p.m.
MLB Tonight -- MLB Network, 8 p.m.

NBA
Chicago at San Antonio -- ESPN, 9 p.m.

NBA GameTime -- NBA TV, 7 p.m.

NFL
NFL Live -- ESPN, 4 p.m.
Path to the Draft -- NFL Network, 7 p.m.

NHL
Colorado at Chicago -- NBC Sports Network, 8 p.m.

NHL Live -- NHL Network, 5 p.m.
NHL Live -- NBC Sports Network, 7 p.m.
NHL on the Fly -- NHL Network, 7 p.m.
NHL Live -- NBC Sports Network, 10:30 p.m.
NHL Tonight -- NHL Network, 10:30 p.m.
NHL Overtime -- NBC Sports Network, 11:30 p.m.

Soccer
CONCACAF Champions League
Quarterfinal
Tigres UANL vs. Seattle -- Fox Soccer, 10 p.m.

UEFA Champions League
Round of 16, 2nd Leg
Paris Saint-Germain vs. Valencia -- Fox Soccer, 2:30 p.m.
Juventus vs. Celtic -- Fox Soccer Plus/Fox Sports Net, 2:30 p.m.

UEFA Champions League Pregame -- Fox Soccer/Fox Soccer Plus/Fox Sports Net, 2 p.m.
UEFA Champions League Highlights -- Fox Soccer Plus, 11 p.m.

Sports Talk
NFL AM -- NFL Network, 6 a.m.
The 'Lights -- NBC Sports Network, 6 a.m.
Morning Drive -- Golf Channel, 7 a.m.
The Dan Patrick Show -- Audience Network (DirecTV)/NBC Sports Network, 9 a.m.
Tim Brando Show -- CBS Sports Network, 9 a.m.
The Box Score -- Audience Network (DirecTV)/NBC Sports Network, noon
SVP & Russillo -- ESPNews, 1 p.m.
Outside the Lines -- ESPN, 3 p.m.
Dan Le Batard is Highly Questionable -- ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.
SportsNation -- ESPN2, 4 p.m.
The Best of the Dan Patrick Show -- NBC Sports Network, 4 p.m.
Pardon the Interruption -- ESPN, 5:30 p.m.
ROME -- CBS Sports Network, 6 p.m.
The Crossover -- NBC Sports Network, 6 p.m.
Sportfolio -- Bloomberg, 9:30 p.m.
Lead Off -- CBS Sports Network, midnight
UNITE -- ESPNU, midnight

World Baseball Classic
First Round, Pool A, Fukuoka, Japan
Japan vs. Cuba -- MLB Network, 5 a.m.

Exhibition
Dominican Republic vs. New York Yankees -- MLB Network, 1 p.m.
Italy vs. Anaheim Angels -- MLB Network, 4 p.m. (same day coverage)

World Baseball Classic Today -- MLB Network, 8 a.m.

After months of reports, speculation, and intrigue Fox finally had the coming out party for their new 24 hour cable sports network, Fox Sports 1, earlier today in New York City.  As has been reported for months, FS1 will replace Speed Channel as Fox looks to build a network that can challenge the generation-long dominance of ESPN.  Fox Sports President Eric Shanks laid down the gauntlet in today's announcement:

“Fans are ready for an alternative to the establishment, and our goal for FS1 is to provide the best in-game experience possible, complemented by informative news, entertaining studio shows and provocative original programming.”

After the slow start of NBC Sports Network, the mantle has now turned to Fox to provide an alternative in the marketplace.  And from today's news, it's clear Fox is starting at a much stronger position than NBC Sports Network, especially in terms of live sports rights.  Here's all you need to know about Fox Sports 1...

Tuesday, March 5

Boston Celtics @ Philadelphia 76ers (TNT 7PM) Kevin Calabro, Mike Fratello
Los Angeles Lakers @ Oklahoma City Thunder (TNT 9:30PM) Kevin Harlan, Greg Anthony

Wednesday, March 6

Chicago Bulls @ San Antonio Spurs (ESPN 9PM) Mark Jones, Jon Barry

Thursday, March 7

Oklahoma City Thunder @ New York Knicks (TNT 8PM) Marv Albert, Reggie Miller
Los Angeles Clippers @ Denver Nuggets (TNT 10:30PM) Ian Eagle, Steve Kerr

Friday, March 8

Atlanta Hawks @ Boston Celtics (ESPN 8PM) Mike Tirico, Jon Barry
Houston Rockets @ Golden State Warriors (ESPN 10:30PM) Dave Pasch, Jeff Van Gundy

Saturday, March 9

Utah Jazz @ New York Knicks (NBAtv 7:30PM) Local Broadcast

Sunday, March 10

Boston Celtics @ Oklahoma City Thunder (ABC 1PM) Mike Tirico, Hubie Brown
Chicago Bulls @ Los Angeles Lakers (ABC 3:30PM) Mike Breen, Jeff Van Gundy
Indiana Pacers @ Miami Heat (NBAtv 6PM) Local Broadcast

Monday, March 11

Oklahoma City Thunder @ San Antonio Spurs (NBAtv 8:30PM) Local Broadcast

H/T Sammy!

The eighth installment of live UFC fights on Fuel TV drew a record 485,000 viewers to the network, more than doubling the previous record-high of 217,000 viewers, set by the first live UFC card on Fuel last February. The pre-fight and post-fight shows also topped that mark of 217,000, with the pre-fight show drawing 250,000 viewers and the post-fight show drawing 219,000 viewers.

The working relationship between ESPN and Fox is continuing to grow, and as it grows, it gets more and more complicated. The partnership truly began when the network behemoths combined on Pac 12 rights and an offer for the rights to the Big 12. Then, when ESPN re-upped with the Big East, rumors began to swirl that they'd sublicense games to Fox. Now, with the impending announcement of Fox winning the rights to the Catholic 7, there are rumors that Fox will be sublicensing games to ESPN within that deal.

What's going on here? Fox and ESPN are supposed to be bitter rivals and competitors, especially with today's launch announcement of Fox Sports One. John Ourand of Sports Business Journal took a look at the relationship, and the general consensus appears to be that the relationship between the two networks is one of convenience, rather than anything else. In Fox, ESPN has a competitor that doesn't have an established cable base (yet), as opposed to an established (yet floundering) competitor in NBC Sports Network.

If the LA Kings have the best Twitter feed among sports franchises, the Minnesota Timberwolves may take first place on YouTube.  This "Harlem Shake" video (which is actually the T'Wolves mascot beating a dancing buffoon in a LeBron James jersey with a baseball bat) is perfect in every way.  Especially the Nikola Pekovic cameo for absolutely no reason at the end.

Let's see SportsCenter spend six hours on this video.

[MNWovles]

Tuesday, March 5

Philadelphia Flyers @ New York Rangers (NBCSN 7:30PM) Dave Strader, Brian Engblom

Wednesday, March 6

Colorado Avalanche @ Chicago Blackhawks (NBCSN 8PM) Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire

Thursday, March 7

Pittsburgh Penguins @ Philadelphia Flyers (NHLN 7PM) Local Broadcast

Friday, March 8

Chicago Blackhawks @ Colorado Avalanche (NHLN 9PM) Local Broadcast

Saturday, March 9

Philadelphia Flyers @ Boston Bruins (NHLN 1PM) Local Broadcast
St. Louis Blues @ San Jose Sharks (NHLN 4PM) Local Broadcast
Pittsburgh Penguins @ Toronto Maple Leafs (NHLN 7PM) Local Broadcast

Sunday, March 10

New York Rangers @ Washington Capitals (NBC 12:30PM) Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, Pierre McGuire
Buffalo Sabres @ Philadelphia Flyers (NBCSN 7:30PM) TBA

H/T Sammy!

As the LeBron James dunkpocalypse rolled into its second week of coverage, Magic Johnson and his ludicrous $1 million offer to get LBJ in 2014's Slam Dunk Contest takes center stage.  Yes, it's insane to be talking about an exhibition contest 11 and a half months away, but thanks to Magic and ESPN here we are.

Monday brought another weird turn as LeBron's dunk contest offer from Magic was the lead story on PTI after a full weekend of sports.  (The ESPN echo chamber at work once again.)  For as much criticism as ESPN's debate programming receives, PTI deservedly has stayed above the criticism because it's authentic and refrains from the manufactured nonsense.  Not so last night.

Michael Wilbon called out Yahoo NBA writer Adrian Wojnarowski for penning a column praising James for "soaring above the $1 million offer" and calling it a distraction.  Wilbon, perhaps motivated by the criticism of his close friend Earvin Johnson, went on the offensive.  Here's the audio from last night's PTI...

In this week's SI Media Column from Richard Deitsch (a recommended weekly read), I took part in a fantasy broadcasting draft for the NCAA Tournament.  The four participants were Deitsch, John Ourand from SBJ, Randy McClure from Rush the Court, and yours truly.  The idea comes from our own NFL Fantasy Draft last April (where I managed to finish last in the accompanying poll, yes, it still bothers me).

The draft has produced plenty of discussion and debate and I wanted to provide some more expanded insights into who I drafted, why, and some of the toughest omissions for my March Madness fantasy team.  As always, let your feedback be known in the comments.  First, Team AA and the round I selected each broadcaster in:

This weekend, NBC aired coverage of the 2013 American Cup gymnastics.  Announcer Al Trautwig has been the voice of NBC's gymnastics coverage for well over a decade, but for some reason he signed off the air for ABC Sports!  D'oh!  At least he barely caught the blooper in time to slide a panicked "NBC" in there.

I could understand Trautwig signing off for MSG since he actually works there in addition to NBC... but ABC hasn't even had its own branded sports division since it was changed to "ESPN on ABC" several years ago.  I'm sure nostaligc fans of the Wide World of Sports appreciated the shoutout though.

Need more Deadsp... I mean, Awful Announcing in your life?  Sign up for the brand new AA Newsletter!  It's free, you may win a prize, and you may even accidentally get a job with ABC Sports. Just click below.