ESPN, 8:00 p.m. ET
These “final” college bowl games – especially this one – were created and designed to end all the bickering, at the end of each college football season, about which team actually was the overall best, and the reigning champ until the following year’s bowl games. I’m not sure it actually solved much, and neither are many other sports fans. But here we are: the so-called “national championship” game, this year between No. 1-ranked LSU and No. 3-ranked Clemson. Both teams have a 14-0 record, but it’s a safe bet to put your money on the Tigers. That’s because both Clemson and LSU, as teams, are called the Tigers.
HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET
SERIES PREMIERE: This sequel to The Young Pope, which also starred Jude Law, brings John Malkovich into the fold and to the fore – but like its predecessor, this series is much stronger on spectacle and visuals than scriptwriting and logic. It might be worth seeing, if you’re curious to know how both Marilyn Manson and Sharon Stone are worked into this story line. But only if that’s the case…