Yeah we know March has laid claim to the Madness title, but for such a short month the sports lineup for February is out of control. Kicking off with Winter X Games 14 this weekend and leading into the Super Bowl, Daytona 500 and Winter Olympics there's more than enough reasons for us to stay inside and out of the cold than ever. So which event are you most excited to see?

The Super Bowl isn't the only sporting event we'll be getting ready for next month, as NBC kicks off its multichannel coverage of the Winter Olympics February 12. It's planning 835 hours of (Conan-less) planned coverage which will all be in high definition. Check the press release for the full details of when the action will be on, divided up on NBC, USA, MSNBC (home of curling) and CNBC (Universal HD is stuck reairing coverage from USA.) We're most interested to see the updated Silverlight powered player on NBCOlympics.com that should bring more than 400 hours live competition and 1,000 hours video available on-demand (check your cable/satellite/telco provider for their various VOD and interactive TV packages) coming straight to the desktop in HD.

Ok, this isn't quite the 3D sporting event we were expecting next after the BCS Championship and World Cup soccer, but the more we think about it, the more Sony and the PGA's plans to shoot the 2011 Sony Open in 3D makes sense. Golf on an HDTV is an absolutely beautiful sight, and the ability of 3D to let us see from the golfer to the ends of the fairways in Hawaii and keep everything in focus should not be underestimated. Of course, that's more than a year away, and Sony is planning to test out its 3D equipment at the upcoming 2010 event first. We'll see if any networks are ready to broadcast this PGA Tour Stop in the best quality available by that time -- or if the British Open is at least in HD.

The end of college football is nearly upon us and although we have a hard time keeping our cool as we're reminded how anti-climatic the season ends, the big rivalry games are enough to keep us happy for at least a few more weeks. And of all those rivalries, there aren't many bigger in college football than Ohio State vs Michigan and although nether team is that great this year, both bring their best game to this matchup.

CFB
#10 Ohio State at Michigan ABC 12:00 PM Sat
#11 Oregon at Arizona ABC 8:00 PM Sat

NFL
Indianapolis Colts at Baltimore Ravens CBS 1:00 PM Sun
Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears NBC 8:20 PM Sun

NBA
Chicago Bulls at Los Angeles Lakers TNT 10:30 PM Thurs
Orlando Magic at Boston Celtics ESPN 8:00 PM Fri

NHL
Detroit Red Wings at Nashville Predators Vs 7:00 PM Mon

You love the NFL's exclusive DirecTV deal for Sunday Ticket right? New York Giants chairman and co-owner Steve Tisch says you do, as it is "really in the consumers' best interest." We're suspecting the bang caused by millions of football lovers who can't / won't switch to the satellite service's heads exploding was muffled by all the cash stuffed in his ears as he continued, praising the "successful model" of the NFL Network channel and its quest for wider distribution. As long as the money keeps flowing and, as he claims, TV ratings are hitting record highs, don't expect anything to change any time soon.

Oh what a wonderful week it is now that baseball is officially over -- enjoy it while it lasts though as we heard that spring training was going to start in December this year. Big college football game this weekend as two top ten teams meet in Alabama and we'll all get to see if Alabama deserves its number three spot. Also this week are a few NFL divisional games as the Ravens take on the Bengals and Dallas travels to Philly, both of which are playing really good right now.

CFB
# 9 LSU at #3 Alabama CBS 3:30 Sat
# 16 Ohio State at #11 Penn State ABC 3:30 PM Sat
#24 Oklahoma at Nebraska ABC 8:00 PM Sat

NFL
Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 PM CBS Sun
Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles 8:20 PM NBC Sun
Pittsburgh Steelers at Denver Broncos 8:30 PM ESPN Mon

NHL
Los Angeles Kings at Chicago Blackhawks Vs 8:00 PM Mon
Pittsburgh Penguins at Boston Bruins Vs 7:00 PM Tues

NBA
Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers TNT 8:00 PM Thurs
San Antonio Spurs at Portland Trail Blazers ESPN 10:30 PM Fri

Forget Torino and its quality issues, the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver promises to be a different event, and this time it is coming home shot 100% natively in HD. Watching on TV, viewers can expect a slew of coverage across NBC's networks, plus a continuously updated HD VOD package of the day's highlights, and interactive TV features to pull up medal counts, athlete bios and Team USA reports. Checking in online? NBC is back with a new iteration of Microsoft's Silverlight streaming, promising even more HD footage, with the ability to fast forward and rewind streams, plus save clips to your computer. Behind the online efforts are the encoding skills of iStreamPlanet providing 23 different video feeds, with Akamai's new HD distribution network distributing the adaptive bitrate streams directly to your PC. Remember when we were just happy to get 5.1 surround?

Read - Akamai and iStreamPlanet to Power Live and on-Demand Video for NBC's Coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games

The best time of year for sports' fans continues as the World Series is in full swing, College Football is about to start off its last month, and the NFL bye weeks are here. The two biggest college football games this week are on the same time and the same channel, which means you'll have to click on the ABC link to see the coverage map to know which game you'll get to see -- we're going to get the Texas game, luckily. Also this week is the over hyped rematch between the Vikings and the Packers is also on this weekend, and since it's at 4pm, everyone should get to see it -- who wants to anyways.

NFL
Denver Broncos at Baltimore Ravens CBS 1:00 PM Sun
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers Fox 4:15 PM Sun

CFB
No. 5 USC at No. 10 Oregon ABC 8:00 PM Sat
No. 3 Texas at No. 14 Oklahoma State ABC 8:00 PM Sat

MLB
World Series: Philadelphia Phillies at New York Yankees Fox 7:57 PM all week

NHL
Boston Bruins at Detroit Red Wings Versus 7:00 PM Tues

NBA
Denver Nuggets at Portland Trail Blazers TNT 10:30 Thurs
Chicago Bulls at Boston Celtics ESPN 8:00 PM Fri

It is very fitting that on a week with not many great football matchups, that the NBA would be kicking off the regular season. It isn't that we're big basketball fans, it is just that we wanted to put up a baseball image and all the ones we could find were boring -- just like the sport itself. But we would like to recognize that for big sports fans, this is the very best time of the year. The time of year when all four of the big sports in the US are all on at the same time. Of course this only lasts for about two weeks because baseball season just can't ever end, but if you can't get enough HD sports, enjoy the following weeks while you can.

NFL

• Minnesota Vikings at Pittsburgh Steelers Fox 1:00 PM Sun
• New Orleans Saints at Miami Dolphins Fox 4:15 PM Sun
• Arizona Cardinals at New York Giants NBC 8:20 PM Sun

CFB

• #8 TCU at #16 BYU Versus 7:30 PM Sat
• #13 Penn State at Michigan ABC/ESPN 3:30 PM Sat

MLB

• ALCS: New York Yankees at Los Angeles Angels 7:57 PM Thurs Fox Sat, maybe Sun
  
• World Series Philadelphia Phillies at AL winner tentatively starts October 28th

NHL

• Minnesota Wild at Chicago Blackhawks Versus 8:30 PM Mon
  
• Philadelphia Flyers at Washington Capitals Versus 7:00 PM Tues

NBA

• Boston Celtics at Cleveland Cavaliers TNT 7:30 PM Tues
• Utah Jazz at Denver Nuggets ESPN 10:30 PM Wed

Oh how we love it when there's a big College Football game on a Thursday night, it really is the best way to kick off the weekend -- albeit a day early. This Thursday's game in Tampa is versus two top ranked teams in the country who are both undefeated and in the same conference. But that still might not be the biggest game of the week as there are actually three other matchups against ranked opponents. The NFL season is more than under way with the bye weeks started and this week two of the remaining undefeated teams meet on Sunday when the second ranked offense in the NFL, New York Giants, meets the 3rd ranked offense in the way of the New Orleans Saints.

CFB

• No. 8 Cincinnati at No. 21 South Florida ESPN 7:30 PM Thu
• No. 20 Oklahoma at No. 3 Texas ABC 12:00 PM Sat
• No. 6 USC at No. 25 Notre Dame NBC 3:30 Sat
• No. 4 Virginia Tech at No.19 Georgia Tech ESPN 6:00 PM Sat
  

NFL

• Baltimore Ravens at Minnesota Vikings CBS 4:15 PM Sun
• New York Giants at New Orleans Saints FOX 1:00 PM Sun
• Chicago Bears at Atlanta Falcons NBC 8:20 PM Sun

MLB

• ALCS: Los Angeles Angels at New York Yankees. Fox starting 10/16
• NLCS: Philadelphia Phillies at Los Angeles Dodgers TBS starting 10/15

NHL

• San Jose Sharks at NY Rangers Vs 7:00 PM Mon
  
• St. Louis Blues at Pittsburgh Penguins Vs 7:00 PM Tues
  

NFL

• New England Patriots at Denver Broncos CBS 4:15 PM Sun
  
• New York Jets at Miami Dolphins ESPN 8:30 PM Mon

CFB

• #21 Nebraska at #24Missouri ESPN 9:00 PM Thu
• #1 Florida at #4 LSU CBS 8:00 PM Sat

MLB

• ALDS: Minnesota Twins at New York Yankees
• ALDS: Boston Red Sox at Anaheim Angles
• NLDS: Colorado Rockies at Philadelphia Phillies
• NLDS: St. Louis Cardinals at Los Angeles Dodgers

NHL

• Calgary Flames at Chicago Blackhawks 8:00 PM Mon Vs
• Detroit Red Wings at Buffalo Sabres 7:00 PM Tues Vs

Things are really starting to heat up on the grid iron. The good and the bad are starting to show themselves and play each other. One of those meetings is on Sunday at 4pm when the Cowboys head to Denver in the hopes of picking up their third win. Then of course on Monday night is the big game Favre lovers have been waiting for. To us its a solid divisional rivalry, but we're sure a number of people will tune in just for the revenge angle. On the CFB field there is another great SEC matchup with LSU vs UGA, but we also get to find out who's worse, Oklahoma or Miami? Finally, the baseball season is coming to an end with only 7 days left until the playoffs, so basically we're just glad to see it end. Hockey also kicks off this week with the Capitals and the Bruins with many more games to follow.

NFL

• Dallas Cowboys at Denver Broncos Fox 4:15 PM Sun
• Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings ESPN 8:30 PM Mon
  

College Football

• LSU at Georgia CBS 3:30 PM Sat
• Oklahoma at Miami ABC 8:00 PM Sat

NHL

• Washington Capitals at Boston Bruins Versus 7:00 PM Thursday
• Detroit Red Wings at St. Louis Blues Versus 3:00 PM Friday
  

MLB

• Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers ESPN 7:05 PM Friday

We've said it before and we'll say it again, sports, not movies or video games is 3D's killer app, and this prototype camera from Sony is designed specifically to help bring the two closer together. Set to debut at CEATEC next week, the HFR Comfort-3D records at 240 fps through just one lens instead of two thanks to a new half-mirror system that takes left and right eye images at the same time, better for capturing fast motion and providing viewers lacking polarized glasses a 2D picture with minimal blurring. One of our few complaints during last year's BCS National Championship 3D experience was occasional benefits caused by fast left-right motion which this system could make a non-issue. Check after the break for a detailed (in Japanese) diagram that should help make things clearer -- for those that can read the language -- the rest of us are waiting for ESPN or someone else to tote a few of these down to the Super Bowl in 2010 and make magic happen.

[Via AV Watch thanks Derek for English PR]

College football roles on and this week where we get to find out if Miami is really back or just went on one heck of a two game winning streak. If you would've told anyone that the Hurricanes could go 3 and 0 with a schedule like this, no one would've believed you, but here we are with Miami going to Virginia Tech favored. Normally we ignore baseball, even though we list the big games but this week the playoff race is officially on so tune in to find out who's going to make it down the final stretch.

NFL

• Atlanta Falcons at New England Patriots Fox 1:00 PM Sun
• Indianapolis Colts at Arizona Cardinals NBC 8:30 PM Sun

College Football

• #9 Miami at #11 Virginia Tech ABC 3:30 PM Sat
  
• Iowa at #5 Penn State ABC 8:00 PM Sat

MLB

• Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees TBS Fri 7:00 PM
• St. Louis Cardinals at Colorado Rockies TBS Sun 3:00 PM