Couch Potato's Guide September 11-17.

10. Rays at Orioles Wednesday 7:00 ESPN2-Yes, I am still sneaking that weekly baseball game in here. Pennant race baseball is really good stuff, and we are down to about twenty games left in the regular season. The Pirates are fading, but still worth watching. The Orioles, yes the Orioles, are in a neck and neck race with the New York Yankees!! They are playing great baseball, and Tampa Bay is on their heels. Make sure to watch the new Orioles third basemen, Manny Machado. He is just 20 years old and is just another great young player in baseball this season. Oh, the Pirates passed him up in the draft.

9. Rutgers at South Florida Thursday 7:30 ESPN-Not everyone has the NFL Network. So to get your football fix, better watch this Big East battle. These two teams are both 2-0 and a 3-0 start could go a long way for either team. Rutgers will not have that annoying jerk of a coach, Greg Schiano, as the Tampa Bay Bucs foolishly hired him away.  South Florida has a quarterback in BJ Daniels that has been there seemingly ten seasons. It is Big East Football, and it is mediocre, Better grab a six pack for this one.

8. BYU at Utah Saturday 10:00 ESPN- I am a huge fan of the late night game. After hours and hours of flipping around the channela, it gives you chance to focus in on one game. This will be a Holy War for all the Mormons. The game dates back to 1922 and the two teams really do not like each other. The schools are just 50 miles apart and there has been some serious battles over the years. Utah may have been looking ahead as they lost to Utah State last week. Hey its football at 10:00 at night, you can't be too picky. I wonder who Joseph Smith will be rooting for, I guess you can have more than one favorite team. Should I be saying that? Oh well, nobody reads this anyway.

7. Bears at Packers Thursday 8:20 NFL Network-Not everyone gets the network, so if I am taunting you, I apologize.  This is one of football's oldest and best rivalries. The Pack looked rough this past week against the 49ers. The Bears looked pretty good against the Colts. I'm not exactly sure what to expect in this game. It is too early for this game to be played anyways. This is a cold weather game, so I may just boycott it altogether. Well, maybe not. Go to a bar, find a bootleg website, or boycott the game. Its your call really.

6.Florida at Tennessee Saturday 6:00 ESPN-The 6:00 start is awkard. Usually you want to see the end of the 3:30 games, and the 7:00 games are often better. Still, this has always been a good rivalry game and should find your way into your channel flipping rotation. Both teams are off to 2-0 starts and not much is expected of either team. It would be huge to get to 3-0. The SEC's strength is now the West division. It is almost like these teams are forgotten about. It should still be a good game, and Tennessee for a night game is always a great atmosphere.

5. Jets at Steelers Sunday 4:25 CBS- The Steelers' defense was supposed to be a strength, and the Jets' offense was supposed to be a weakness. The Steelers could not stop Peyton Manning and the Jets scored 40 points in week one. So much for the experts out there. The Steelers do not want to start 0-2 in the toughest division in football, because that is a high hill to climb. The Jets' backup quarterback will be mentioned at least 50 times. So therefore, the drinking game this weekend is a five second chug every time that player's name is mentioned. I am not going to say it, save your beer.

4. Alabama at Arkansas Saturday 3:30 CBS-Arkansas was ranked number eight in the whole country, and now they are not. A loss to Louisiana Monroe has that effect on a ranking. Arkansas is still loaded with plenty of offensive firepower and could be a tough game for the defending champs.  Alabama has pretty much turned itself to be the best program in America. Saban can flat out recruit and they will be a top five team as long as he is the coach. The SEC is forced down everyone's throat, but at the end of the day it is good football. This is the best 3:30 game out there, so watch it. At the very least you will be watching the best team in the country.

3. USC at Stanford Saturday 7:30 FOX-I like FOX carrying national games. It is another channel willing to put on a marquee game every week, everybody wins. USC has all the talent in the world, and they are fun to watch. Marquis Lee and Robert Woods are great receivers, and Matt Barkley should win the Heisman. Stanford is not a joke anymore. Harbaugh made sure of that. They have recruited well and they can play with anyone these days. Nerds are good at football, who knew?

2. Notre Dame at Michigan State 8:00 ABC-A game that has been played for a long time has been pretty good of late. Remember the last time they played in East Lansing?  Incredible finish. Look, Michigan State is really, really good. I am not too sure if anybody realizes it. Le'veon Bell is a grown man running the football and he alone should be worth watching this game. Of course you can see Brian Kelly's face turn purple a few times. That never gets old.

1. Lions at 49ers Sunday 8:20 NBC-If you are Rip van Winkle just waking after a ten year nap, this is not a misprint. The Lions and 49ers are playing in a nationally televised big game. They are arguably the two best teams in the entire NFC. The game will be fantastic. The high powered offense of the Lions against the stout defense of the Niners. It has all the making of a potential playoff game down the line. And of course, it is the rematch of the handshake. Sometimes in the football players, fans, owners hate each other. It is always fun when the coaches hate each other.