This weekend’s busy sports schedule is bringing about the first NFL vs. College Football Playoff TV clash.

On Saturday afternoon, the two behemoths compete for viewers during four intertwining game windows (all times ET):

• Noon, TNT: SMU–Penn State
• 1 p.m., NBC: Texans-Chiefs
• 4 p.m., TNT: Clemson-Texas
• 4:30 p.m., Fox: Steelers-Ravens

The head-to-head battle has been anticipated since April 2023, when conference commissioners agreed on 2024 and 2025 game dates for the expanded CFP. Immediately, the Playoff’s encroachment on NFL territory—the league typically holds multiple nationally televised games on late-December Saturdays—was evident.

“It’s not meant to be anything at all disrespectful or frustrating,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said at the time. “We have a good relationship with them,” former CFP executive director Bill Hancock said.

Just over a year later, the NFL released its 2024 regular-season schedule, which includes two games this Saturday, in part, to facilitate the league’s Christmas Day doubleheader on Netflix, despite the holiday falling on a Wednesday. 

The NFL ended up with two great games, as all four teams have winning records. Kansas City (13–1) and Houston (9–5) have clinched their divisions but are still playing for playoff seeding, while Baltimore (9–5) is just one game behind Pittsburgh (10–4) in the AFC North.

Both NFL games will have the advantage of being on broadcast networks, while the CFP matchups are on cable. 

Weekend Watch List

While Disney is the CFP’s media rights holder, it will get to avoid the NFL clash thanks to its deal for TNT Sports to sublicense two first-round Playoff games this year. 

On Friday night, ABC and ESPN will simulcast Indiana–Notre Dame, becoming the first non-NBC networks to broadcast a Fighting Irish home game since 1990. On Saturday night, the two channels will air Tennessee–Ohio State. ESPN’s College GameDay will pull a rare double assignment, airing from South Bend, Ind., on Friday afternoon, and then Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday morning.

ESPN’s presence will still be felt during the TNT games (which are simulcasting on TBS, truTV, and Max), as ESPN talent will be in the broadcast booth for both SMU–Penn State and Clemson-Texas. TNT will have its own personalities for pregame coverage.

After several years of proposals, planning, and plenty of local friction, the 76ers’ planned $1.55 billion downtown arena is officially a go. 

The Philadelphia City Council approved Thursday the NBA team’s controversial bid to leave the south Philadelphia sports complex and pursue a new venue development, 76 Place at Market East, near Philadelphia’s Chinatown. The 12–5 vote on multiple bills related to the arena project was the largest and most dramatic step yet toward making the arena a reality following a prior, preliminary council approval, an improved community benefits agreement, and ardent support from Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker. 

The council vote, however, still contained plenty of drama as anti-arena demonstrators locked arms in the chamber and briefly delayed the start of the meeting before they were removed. The arena effort has long been controversial—particularly with the neighboring Chinatown neighborhood fearful of potential gentrification and the forcing out of incumbent ethnic communities. Many other opponents who packed the chamber chanted “Council sellout!”

The team, however, has been strongly pushing to get the needed city approvals by the end of the year to stay on a timetable targeting the new venue to open for the 2031–2032 NBA season—when a current lease for the Wells Fargo Center expires. The council’s approval arrived at its final session of 2024. The building will be privately financed. 

“The leadership [the] council and the mayor have displayed embodies a greater vision for Philadelphia,” David Adelman, 76ers co-owner and lead developer, said in a statement. “They recognize how important this project is for the revitalization of our city.”

While the arena plan is progressing, the 76ers continue to struggle on the court after holding championship aspirations. The team is 8–16, the fourth-worst mark in the Eastern Conference, and 2022–23 MVP Joel Embiid has missed most of the season dealing with a series of injuries.

Big Progress in D.C., Too

Just a little farther south on Interstate 95, the parent organization of another NBA team also made sizable progress Thursday on its new facility dreams. Monumental Sports & Entertainment—the parent organization of the Wizards, the NHL’s Capitals, and the WNBA’s Mystics—and the District of Columbia broke ground on a planned renovation of Capital One Arena worth at least $800 million.

The project, contemplated since a dramatic reversal from a proposed arena project in Virginia, is slated to be complete in time for the 2027–2028 NBA and NHL seasons. MSE also released a new set of building renderings, with the Gensler-produced design showing a sweeping new vision for both the facility’s exterior and interior. 

“The arena will be a marvel of modern design and technology, the intersection of style and comfort and a futuristic and first-class fan experience from street to seat,” said MSE founder and CEO Ted Leonsis. 

As more dominoes fall in college football’s record period of transfer portal movement, quarterbacks continue to be the biggest stories among programs with the largest donor bases and NIL (name, image, and likeness) money to spend.

Oklahoma landed Washington State transfer John Mateer, who was the consensus top quarterback in the portal. Mateer has signed a deal with the 1Oklahoma collective, which is the university’s primary NIL partner.

The Sooners had previously lured Washington State offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle to Norman with a three-year contract, along with former Cougars quarterbacks coach John Kuceyeski.

Mateer will replace Jackson Arnold, who transferred to SEC rival Auburn for an undisclosed NIL deal that is raising some eyebrows.

More Talent for Coach Prime

As Colorado gets ready for its Alamo Bowl matchup with Big 12 rival BYU, the Buffaloes have landed a potential replacement for Shedeur Sanders, who is widely projected to be a top-five pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. 

Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter is transferring to Colorado, which already has an incoming five-star freshman signal-caller, Julian Lewis. It’s another win for Colorado coach Deion Sanders as he prepares to field a team without his son as well as Heisman Trophy–winning two-way star Travis Hunter—also a projected top-five NFL Draft pick.

The Portal’s Dark Side

As of Thursday afternoon, Penn State backup Beau Pribula had not signed with a new school, but the quarterback’s decision to transfer and miss out on his team’s College Football Playoff run led to some questions about the logistics and timing of the portal’s opening.

“I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the student-athlete,” Penn State coach James Franklin said. “I don’t think it’s in the best interest of college football.”