Finest sports activities weekend ever? What we’re watching as Ryder Cup, NFL, faculty soccer, WNBA playoffs, MLB converge

Weekends like these are why we endure the canine days of summer time. Why we rely down the times till seasons are again. Why we will not wait till that trace of fall is within the air. Why we, merely, are sports activities followers. The ultimate weekend of September is setting as much as be one of many biggest sporting weekends in current reminiscence.

Let’s begin with the Ryder Cup, hosted on the iconic Bethpage Black Course simply outdoors New York Metropolis. Workforce USA and Workforce Europe will battle for bragging rights in entrance of a raucous crowd not like any you’d get at different golf occasions. The largest stars are out, and the distinctive format — with crew occasions Friday and Saturday and 12 singles matches on Sunday — ensures each minute might be full of drama. Put together for loads of champagne popping come Sunday night.

That final sentence applies within the MLB, too. There are nonetheless 4 playoff spots to be decided on this dash to the end. The Tigers have skilled a historic collapse, up from 15.5 video games within the AL Central to combating for his or her playoff lives. And will the Mets actually miss the postseason? There is a ton on the desk.

The WNBA playoffs have already begun, and each semifinals — Aces-Fever and Lynx-Mercury — are tied at 1-1. One would assume Las Vegas and Minnesota are on a collision course, however Indiana (with out Caitlin Clark, no much less) and Phoenix have already proved their mettle.

Lastly, each Saturday and Sunday in September has loads of soccer. Not all of them have this type of lineup, although. Among the many faculty highlights are No. 6 Penn State internet hosting its annual whiteout towards No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 LSU visiting No. 13 Ole Miss and No. 17 Alabama heading to No. 5 Georgia.

Within the NFL ranks, Micah Parsons makes his return to Dallas after his stunning commerce from the Cowboys to the Packers, and two high AFC contenders — the Ravens and the Chiefs — attempt to keep away from falling to 1-3 after they meet in Kansas Metropolis on CBS.

So, what are we right here at CBS Sports activities trying ahead to most? It is arduous to decide on only one, however here is what we’ll have on our display screen — or at the very least on our important display screen — over the following few days.

Ryder Cup

There’s lots of nice soccer on this weekend. None of these video games are significantly distinctive, although. The Ryder Cup is performed biennially, and lots of golf consultants imagine there has by no means been a extra important version of the occasion than the one being performed at Bethpage Black in New York over the following few days. The edges are comparatively even, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler headlines an American facet now not as sturdy because it was simply 4 years in the past, Keegan Bradley is probably probably the most thrilling U.S. captain ever, and Europe completely ran by means of the Individuals on the final enjoying in Rome. May this be the yr the street Ryder Cup streak is damaged? Will Rory McIlroy come by means of in his final nice bid to perform that feat on U.S. soil? The Lengthy Island crowd might be raucous, the outfits might be distinctive, and the golf might probably be legendary. – Adam Silverstein

The Ryder Cup might be entrance and heart on my TV all day Friday and once more on Sunday afternoon. Shoot, it’s going to even take heart stage on Saturday morning over the same old faculty soccer preview reveals. As soon as midday hits, I will be dialed in to a blockbuster day of faculty soccer motion for work functions, however the motion from Bethpage Black will doubtless nonetheless discover a place in my quadbox. There’s nothing just like the pageantry and depth of the Ryder Cup, as a person sport morphs into the final word crew endeavor for a weekend. – David Cobb

The Ryder Cup has been all bark and no chunk for the final decade, however this yr it’s going to change. Two evenly matched squads with their very own historical past and hurdles to beat. On the European facet, Rory McIlroy seems to name his shot efficiently, a la Babe Ruth, after main the drubbing of the U.S. in Rome in what is probably going the ultimate finest shot of his profession to win a Ryder Cup on American soil. Luke Donald can turn out to be arguably the best European captain as properly in his second stint as headman. For the house crew, Bradley can go from outdoors the boys membership to sitting on the head of the desk if he brings the cup again dwelling. Throw within the New York crowd, the vagaries of match play and totally different enjoying codecs, in addition to characters comparable to Bryson DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton, and a very good time is certain to occur. – Patrick McDonald

I am an authorized golf sicko, however take into account this my formal proposal to maneuver the Ryder Cup to August so I can really watch the entire thing. Going up towards soccer means the one important time I get to spend watching it’s on Sunday afternoon if the U.S. is in putting distance. It is a particular window of time to recollect golf exists, and it is a time-honored custom of mine to fully ignore it if we’re being drubbed by the lads from throughout the pond. Name me a frontrunner or a man who’s simply too locked into the gridiron, however September means soccer season. – Richard Johnson 

Faculty soccer

No. 6 Oregon at No. 3 Penn State

There are actually so many choices to select from this weekend, however I am going to go along with the perfect recreation on the faculty soccer slate. Certain, if Alabama-Georgia is something like final yr, we’re in for an additional electrical recreation, however I am unable to wait to observe Penn State vs. Oregon. This recreation might go a great distance in figuring out who has the within monitor to succeed in the Huge Ten Championship Recreation and brownie factors in direction of a first-round bye within the Faculty Soccer Playoff. Penn State quarterback Drew Allar has been up and down this season, whereas Oregon quarterback Dante Moore has proven flashes of why he was such a touted switch. – Cameron Salerno

The Eagles are enjoying the Buccaneers this weekend, the Phillies are enjoying in Recreation 162 (they’ve mainly every part wrapped up), the Ryder Cup is on, however nothing else issues besides this recreation. Truthful warning, I’m a Penn State alum and have by no means missed a  “White Out” recreation — as a scholar, alum or journalist. That is the most important recreation of the yr for PSU up to now, and that is Oregon’s first go to to Beaver Stadium because the Sixties. Realizing gamers on the crew and the way a lot this recreation means to them makes the “White Out” much more particular, particularly for the No. 3 crew within the nation. It is a assertion recreation, and the ambiance might be like no different. Anticipate 110,000-plus all carrying white and the stadium to be loud for 3.5 hours.  – Jeff Kerr

No. 17 Alabama at No. 5 Georgia

Whereas there might be video games with extra nationwide implications, Alabama-Georgia has one thing even higher: desperation. Kalen DeBoer has one of many hottest seats in faculty soccer and desperately must remind followers why Alabama employed a no-name from the West Coast. He tends to be the most important in crucial stops, so do not be stunned if DeBoer and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb come out with a loopy recreation plan towards the SEC’s new standard-bearer. If it goes fallacious, I would anticipate one other large spike on our story about DeBoer’s hefty buyout.  – Shehan Jeyarajah

I believe I am contractually obligated to choose the sport I am going to really be attending, however even when I wasn’t at Alabama-Georgia, it is the faculty soccer recreation that has me most intrigued in what’s a stacked general slate. DeBoer’s finest second as Alabama’s coach was a win over Georgia a yr in the past in Tuscaloosa. For all of Kirby Good’s success, he is nonetheless solely 1-6 towards Alabama since he took over in Athens. DeBoer might badly use one other marquee win after dropping the season opener to Florida State, whilst you know Good would love to finish the narrative he cannot beat the Crimson Tide. From “second-and-26” to final yr’s implausible end, these two groups are likely to ship classics after they meet on the sector, and I am unable to wait to see what this yr’s version delivers. – John Talty 

No. 1 Ohio State at Washington (on CBS/Paramount+)

I would prefer to echo Richard Johnson’s proposal to maneuver the Ryder Cup to August – simply as I want the NASCAR Cup Collection Playoffs wrapped up earlier than the soccer season begins. That mentioned, I’ll take a unique route – one admittedly biased in direction of the Huge Ten on CBS.

With all the opposite top-25 matchups occurring this Saturday, No. 1 Ohio State at Washington is not going to seize a lot nationwide consideration. Ryan Day and the Buckeyes are 48-0 towards convention opponents not named Michigan or Oregon, however the Huskies deliver a 22-game dwelling profitable streak in one of many loudest stadiums in faculty soccer. If Washington pulls off the upset, it might be an added spotlight to an already large sports activities weekend. – Cody Nagel

No. 1 Ohio State at Washington has the makings of Jeremiah Smith’s loud introduction to 2025’s Heisman occasion

David Cobb

No. 15 Tennessee at Mississippi State 

Lure recreation for the No. 15 Vols in Starkville? We’re already in Week 5, however that is the their first true street recreation, and I can already hear these rattling cowbells. Tennessee averages 53.5 factors per recreation and has dropped at the very least 41 factors in every contest this season. Mississippi State, however, permits simply 11.8 factors per recreation. One thing’s gotta give. – Jordan Dajani

Packers at Cowboys

After I picked my jaw up off the ground after seeing Jerry Jones commerce Micah Parsons to the Inexperienced Bay Packers, I instantly went to verify the schedule. Sure! Not solely do the Packers and Cowboys play each other in 2025, however it’s in Dallas on Sunday Evening Soccer. What a time to be alive! This was some of the gorgeous trades in current NFL historical past, and now we get to see the star move rusher virtually instantly head again to his outdated stomping grounds to tackle his former crew. Signal me up! After being embarrassed by the Browns final week, there’s going to be no letup by Parsons and the Packers. On high of attempting to proper that fallacious, Parsons is in line to have an amazing displaying with Dallas’ offensive line coping with a rash of accidents. Get your popcorn prepared. – Tyler Sullivan

Ravens vs. Chiefs (on CBS)

Kansas Metropolis’s sluggish begin to 2025 does not bode properly for this recreation as a fireworks present, however Lamar Jackson is simply 1-5 towards the Chiefs as a starter for his profession, together with playoffs. One thing has to provide right here. If he cannot steal the highlight in Arrowhead this time, we’ll have grave considerations about Baltimore as a contender. And but, if Patrick Mahomes and Co. cannot defend their very own turf and drop to 1-3, properly, the sirens will begin in Kansas Metropolis as properly. In different phrases, it is a matchup of desperation between two current MVP quarterbacks, which suggests we’re most likely in for a deal with. – Cody Benjamin

MLB closing weekend

For many of the yr, I used to be frightened these previous few days of the season can be a bit lame as a result of so many groups appeared locked into their postseason destiny. As an alternative, we nonetheless have a bunch of races and postseason berths up for grabs, thanks largely to the Astros, Mets, and particularly the Tigers collapsing. Detroit’s attempting to keep away from the most important collapse in baseball historical past. The Astros are staring down the top of their reign. The Mets cannot probably miss the postseason, can they? I imply, positive they’ll. It is doable. We nonetheless have legit races within the AL East and NL West, too. I do not love the three wild card system — I believe there are too many groups within the postseason now — however credit score the place it is due: many of those races would not be doable with out it. – Mike Axisa

As a Reds fan, I had forgotten what it was like to observe aggressive baseball in September (and even August, for that matter), however that is not the case this yr. With the Mets probably pulling off an all-time choke job within the NL Wild Card race, that has opened the door for the Reds to get to the playoffs for the primary time since 2013 (I do not rely their pretend playoff look in 2020 when 16 groups made the postseason throughout MLB’s shortened COVID season). With the Reds within the thick of the race, I am going to have my eyes on the Mets, Reds and Diamondbacks as they battle for the ultimate NL Wild Card spot. I forgot how a lot enjoyable it’s to scoreboard watch in September. – John Breech

Among the many doable MLB collapses (Tigers might blow division result in Guardians), I am significantly curious to see what occurs to the Mets. I occur to be a lifelong Braves fan (so I’ve nothing else to root for proper now!) who totally loved when Atlanta overcame a ten.5-game deficit to overhaul the Mets for the NL East title in 2022. May the Mets actually blow one other large lead simply three years later, this time within the NL Wild Card to the Reds? That is the franchise that mainly has a clean verify from Steve Cohen (however by some means did not spend money on sufficient pitching). It will be one of many largest collapses ever, contemplating they had been an MLB-best 45-24 on June 12. They may be taking up a stumbling Marlins crew this weekend, however they only misplaced two out of three to the Nationals and misplaced three of 4 to Miami again in late August. This is able to be precisely the kind of collection the Mets would lose to complete off a historic letdown. – Doug Clawson

WNBA playoffs

I have to admit I am going to have the iPad up on the facet to regulate the Ryder Cup and the Crimson Sox’s playoff hopes, however my main focus would be the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs, that are set for a pivotal weekend. Each best-of-five collection – the Minnesota Lynx vs. the Phoenix Mercury and the Las Vegas Aces vs. the Indiana Fever – are all sq. at 1-1. The motion will resume Friday with a pair of Recreation 3s, adopted by one other doubleheader of Recreation 4s on Sunday. 

The Lynx and Aces, the highest two seeds, had been main favorites heading into the semis and appeared destined to fulfill within the Finals subsequent month. That matchup is now not a assure, and each groups must go on the street and win at the very least one recreation this weekend to maintain their respective seasons alive. The underdog Mercury and Fever, however, abruptly have an opportunity to advance to the Finals by defending their dwelling courts. 

Will any of those 4 groups punch their ticket to the Finals this weekend? Will the Finals matchup be set? Or will we fall asleep Sunday evening pondering two winner-take-all Recreation 5s early subsequent week? The probabilities for this weekend are limitless – Jack Maloney