Tiger's 2019 Debut, Australian Open Semis and More to Watch This Week

Must Watch: Tiger Returns

Tiger Woods makes his 2019 season debut this week in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in California. Woods has played this event 17 times, winning seven of them, and it's also the site of his last major win (2008 U.S. Open). It will be Tiger's first action since playing in the Hero World Challenge in December and his first PGA Tour event since winning the end-of-season Tour Championship. He also played in the Ryder Cup during September and Capital One's The Match in November.

Tiger will naturally receive most of the headlines as the tournament starts, but the rest of the field is stacked with defending champion Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler and world No. 1 Justin Rose. Live coverage each day begins at noon ET, with Thursday's and Friday's broadcasts on Golf Channel and Saturday's and Sunday's on CBS. Here are the featured groups for the first two days of play:

• Tiger Woods, Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele
• Jason Day, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott
• Rickie Fowler, Brandt Snedeker, Jon Rahm
• Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Billy Horschel

Full tournament schedule, players, groups, information

Watch This: Australian Open

The tennis season's first major continues into its decisive second week, with winners set to be crowned this weekend. Highlights so far from Melbourne include 20-year-old Stefanos Tsitsipas' upset of Roger Federer, a breakout performance by 17-year-old American Amanda Anisimova and Serena Williams' victory over the top-ranked player in the world.

Williams and No. 4 Naomi Osaka are the top contenders left for the title on the women's side, while No. 1 Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Rafael Nadal are still alive in the men's draw. Men's and women's quarterfinals continue late Tuesday night ET and early Wednesday morning on ESPN2, with semifinals the following two nights. The women's final will air live Saturday at 3:30 a.m. ET on ESPN, and the men's final will be at the same time on Sunday. Each match will be re-aired later each morning on ESPN2.

Full Australian Open schedule

3 More Things To Watch This Week

1. NBA League Pass on B/R Live

The NBA League Pass slate this week is something you don't want to miss, especially Wednesday and Thursday.

Wednesday night brings eight games, featuring the Raptors, who lead the league in wins; the Rockets, led by MVP front-runner James Harden; the young stars of the Celtics and another final matchup for the Heat in Dwyane Wade's last season. Thursday includes two heavy battles in the West, where the playoff race is tight. The Thunder host the Pelicans (watch), and the Suns host the Trail Blazers (watch).

Here's how to watch on B/R Live and here's the full NBA schedule.

      

2. Top 25 Tests

The men's college basketball rankings look a little bit different this week after Duke lost to Syracuse at home but then handed Virginia its first loss of the season.

Tennessee vaulted into the top spot after another solid win, and the Vols face an immediate test Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2) when they travel to in-state rival Vanderbilt. Here are some of the other top matchups for ranked teams this week, with many hitting the road on upset alert:

Tuesday

No. 16 Auburn at South Carolina, 6:30 p.m., SEC Network

Minnesota at No. 5 Michigan, 7 p.m., BTN

No. 22 Mississippi State at No. 8 Kentucky, 7 p.m., ESPN

No. 14 Texas Tech at Kansas State, 7 p.m., ESPN2

No. 18 Villanova at Butler, 7 p.m., FS1

No. 2 Duke at Pittsburgh, 9 p.m., ESPN

Wake Forest at No. 3 Virginia, 9 p.m., WatchESPN

Wednesday

DePaul at No. 12 Marquette, 8:30 p.m., FS1

Thursday

No. 6 Michigan State at No. 19 Iowa, 7 p.m., FS1

No. 21 North Carolina State at No. 23 Louisville, 8 p.m., Watch ESPN

      

3. International Club Soccer

Domestic cup tournaments continue this week in top soccer countries around the world, featuring some of the best teams in Europe.

Copa del Rey Quarterfinals, Leg 1

Sevilla vs. Barcelona, Wednesday at 3:30 p.m., beIN Sports

Real Madrid vs. Girona, Thursday at 3:30 p.m., beIN Sports

Copa del Rey Quarterfinal Preview

Carabao Cup Semifinals, Leg 2 (first leg score in parentheses)

Burton Albion (0) vs. Manchester City (9), Wednesday at 2:45 p.m., ESPN+

Chelsea (0) vs. Tottenham (1), Thursday at 2:45 p.m., ESPN+

Coupe de France Round of 16

Paris Saint-Germain vs. Strasbourg, Wednesday at 3:05 p.m., beIN Sports Connect/fuboTV

Quick Catch-Up

1. NFC Championship

The first of two thrilling overtime games on Championship Sunday ended with the Rams defeating the Saints 26-23. So much happened in this game that we don't have room for here. The noise, the fake punt, the whistling fan (anyone's ears still ringing?), the pass interference that wasn't called, the game-tying field goal, the overtime interception and then the 57-yard kick right down the middle from kicker Greg Zuerlein to send Los Angeles to the Super Bowl. Rams fans rejoiced, Saints fans fumed, the city of Atlanta celebrated, and Todd Gurley steered right into the skid:

2. AFC Championship

Then the Patriots and Chiefs played another classic, with New England ultimately winning 37-31. The fourth quarter alone featured 38 points, including a final three minutes in which the Chiefs scored a touchdown, the Patriots scored a touchdown and the Chiefs kicked a field goal to force overtime. There were also countless very close replay reviews—and just craziness.

3. Romo Knows

While the insane AFC Championship Game was hitting its peak late, CBS broadcast analyst Tony Romo was absolutely in his bag, correctly predicting play after play during the end of the regulation and overtime. It was a masterclass:

4. ONE Championship Debuts on B/R Live

The world's largest mixed martial arts organization made its United States debut on B/R Live over the weekend with ONE: Eternal Glory, and it did not disappoint with excellent choices of walk-out music and unbelievable intensity in the cage.

The next event, ONE: Hero's Ascent, will air on B/R Live this Friday. Watch here.