A handful of the best games of the weekend – everything from College Football, to the English Premier League, to the NHL – and why you should watch.

The Triple-Dub – Feb. 25th – 27th

College Basketball:

You know the spiel by now – tentatively pay attention to the college basketball world this weekend with only 2 weeks left until March Madness  so you can hopefully pick a better bracket.  Here are some college basketball games to keep an eye on this weekend:

• Saturday Feb. 26th

#20 Syracuse (23-6) @ #11 Georgetown (21-7) – 12:00 PM ET – CBS

#7 BYU (26-2) @ #4 San Diego State (27-1) – 2:00 PM ET – CBS

#25 St. Johns (18-9) @ #14 Villanova (21-7) – 2:00 PM ET – ESPN

#10 Arizona (23-4) @ UCLA (19-8) – 4:00 PM ET – Fox Sports

#13 Florida (21-5) @ #22 Kentucky (19-8) – 4:00 PM ET – CBS

#1 Duke (26-2) @ Virginia Tech (18-8) – 9:00 PM ET – ESPN

• Sunday Feb. 26th

#6 Pittsburgh (24-3) @ #16 Louisville (21-7) – 2:00 PM ET- CBS

#8 Purdue (23-5) @ Michigan State (16-11) – 1:00 PM ET – ESPN

National Basketball Association:

• Friday Feb. 24th

Oklahoma City Thunder (36-20) @ Orlando Magic (36-22) (Amway Center  - Orlando, FL) 8:00 PM ET – ESPN

Photo via hardwoodhoudini.com

The new look Thunder (traded Jeff Green & Nenad Krstic to Boston for Kendrick Perkins & Nate Robinson) take on the Orlando Magic Friday night. This could give people an idea of how Oklahoma City will look  with Perkins in the middle battling his former Eastern Conference nemesis Dwight Howard (both pictured above). It will be Perk’s first game playing with the Thunder so I’m not expecting them to necessarily look in sync yet, but it should still be worth watching.

• Sunday Feb. 27th

Los Angeles Lakers (40-19) @ Oklahoma City Thunder (36-20) (Oklahoma City Arena – Oklahoma City, OK) 2:30 PM ET – ABC

The Thunder again, you ask? Well, Kevin Durant and company gave the Lake Show all they could handle in the playoffs last year and their decision to trade for Perkins is a direct result of needing a big man to compete with Dallas, San Antonio, and of course the Lakers in the Western Conference come playoff time.  Will Perkins be enough to help them get over the hump? Again, it’ll only be Perk’s second game with his new team but it could give us an idea of what lies ahead in the playoffs.

New York Knicks (29-26) @ Miami Heat (42-15) (American Airlines Arena – Miami, FL) 8:00 PM ET – ESPN

The new look Knicks against the “Heatles”? Yes, please.  The Knicks will obviously still be figuring things out – and playing no defense – but Amare, Melo, Chauncey, D-Wade, LeBron, and Chris Bosh all on the court together?  You don’t have to be Marv Albert to know this should be exciting – of course I’m watching.

English Premier League:

There doesn’t appear (on paper anyway) to be any particularly interesting games this weekend.  I’ll be focusing my attention on the English Carling Cup final between Arsenal & Birmingham detailed below.  If you’re dying for some good EPL action wait for Tuesday’s clash when Manchester United visits Chelsea (2:30 PM ET FSC) with plenty on the line for both clubs.

English Carling Cup:

• Sunday Feb. 27th

Arsenal vs Birmingham City – English Carling Cup Final – (Wembley Stadium – London England) 11:00 AM ET – Fox Soccer Channel

Photo via zimbio.com

The quest for the Carling Cup began with 92 clubs (20 from the EPL and 72 from The Football League) and is down to two.  The Carling Cup is often seen as a lower priority for larger clubs compared to other trophies but that wont be the case for Arsenal this year. The Gunners haven’t won a major trophy since 2005 and are looking to end the drought but will have to do so without captain Cesc Fabregas & speedster Theo Walcott who picked up injuries on Wednesday.  With a better squad and two victories over Birmingham this year in EPL play (2-1 and 3-0), Arsenal is favored and better win to avoid a potentially devastating collapse to finish the campaign.

National Lacrosse League:

• Sunday Feb. 27th

East vs West – NLL All-Star Game – (Turning Stone Resort Casino - Verona, NY) 2:00 PM ET – Versus

The NLL is the professional indoor – or “box” – lacrosse league in North America.  Basically imagine playing lacrosse in a hockey rink but on turf instead of ice and you have a decent idea of what to expect. It’s a hard-hitting, quicker brand of lacrosse with scores usually into double digits for both teams.  I have no idea how physical the All-Star game will be but it should still be pretty exciting featuring the best box lacrosse players in the world.  Paul Rabil, Max Seibald, and Casey Powell are the most recognizable names (for me anyway) on the All-Star rosters.  Tune in on Sunday for what should be an exciting event.

What are you watching this weekend?