Kiffin Goes Home, and It’s Ugly on Purpose

The whole sport is pointed at Oxford this weekend, and for good reason.

No. 8 LSU at No. 9 Ole Miss, Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (ABC). Lane Kiffin’s first trip back to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium since he left the Rebels for LSU last December, walking into a building that will not be glad to see him. Both teams are undefeated. First top-10 meeting between these two since 1962. College GameDay’s on-site. This is as close to appointment television as college football gets in September.

No. 22 Houston at No. 13 Texas Tech, Friday, 8 p.m. ET (FOX). Big 12 statement game before the marquee Saturday even starts.

No. 16 SMU at No. 23 Louisville, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN2). Two ranked teams that both have real ACC ambitions, and neither can afford an early loss.

Final Word: Every other Saturday storyline this fall gets measured against what happens in Oxford. Clear the evening.

The NFL Remembers It Has a Season Too

Vikings at Bears, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (FOX).

Saints at Ravens, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS).

Steelers at Patriots, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET (CBS).

Jaguars at Broncos, Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET (CBS).

Week 2, and already four games worth circling on a schedule that’s usually still finding its footing this early.

Bristol Under the Lights

NASCAR — Bass Pro Shops Night Race, Bristol Motor Speedway, Saturday (USA). Third race of the Chase, at the track built specifically to turn contenders into wreckage. Under the lights at Bristol is still one of the meanest, loudest nights on the calendar.

A Genuinely Deep Soccer Weekend

Bournemouth vs. Liverpool, Sunday, 9 a.m. ET (Sky Sports). Andoni Iraola’s first game back against his former club.

Brighton vs. Arsenal, Saturday. A title contender on the road against a team that makes nobody’s weekend easy.

Atlético Madrid vs. Real Madrid, Sunday, 10:15 a.m. ET. The Madrid derby, and it lands squarely in this window. Mourinho’s Los Blancos arrive with a flawless record on the line.

Sevilla vs. Barcelona, Saturday. Defending champs on the road at a ground that’s historically given them trouble.

The USMNT Vs. USMNT Weekend

Three separate matches this weekend put American players on opposite sides of the same pitch — a genuine rarity, and worth tracking all three.

Leeds United vs. Crystal Palace, Sunday, 9 a.m. ET (Sky Sports). Brenden Aaronson for Leeds against Chris Richards for Palace.

Borussia Mönchengladbach vs. Mainz, Saturday. Joe Scally against Lennard Maloney, two young Americans both trying to nail down starting jobs in the Bundesliga.

Lyon vs. Rennes, Saturday. Tanner Tessmann against Bryan Reynolds — Ligue 1’s version of the same story.

Baseball’s Real Stakes

Guardians at Twins, Friday–Sunday, Target Field. The final meeting between the two clubs this season, with Cleveland trying to hang onto the last AL Wild Card spot and Minnesota fighting to stay alive. Every game here is magnified.

Under the Radar: Copenhagen Gets a World Championship

World Athletics Road Running Championships, Copenhagen, Saturday and Sunday, streaming free on World Athletics’ YouTube channel. We’ll be doing football marathons all weekend — six games back to back, remote in hand. These people are doing actual competitive marathons, for a world title, and somehow that’s the event getting zero coverage. Marathon, half-marathon, and mixed relay, all elite fields, all completely off the radar in the U.S.

Final Word: Oxford gets the marquee, but between Bristol, the Bernabéu, and a start line in Denmark, this is a weekend that rewards flipping around.