Serena at U.S. Open, LIV Golf, NCAA football lead weekend sports schedule

NASCAR’s Cup Series playoffs and Formula 1’s Dutch Grand Prix also will take place Sunday in Darlington, S.C., and the Netherlands, respectively.

But Serena Williams’ journey in Flushing, N.Y., and dozens of college football games will likely draw the most viewers.

U.S. Open

Dozens of third-round and round of 16 matches from tennis’ U.S. Open will air Friday through Sunday from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Friday’s third-round coverage will start at 11 a.m. EDT on ESPN Deportes and continue at noon on ESPN. Coverage will pick back up at 6 p.m. on ESPN2.

Additional third round matches will air starting at 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN2 and at 11:15 a.m. on ESPN Deportes. Coverage will resume at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

The first wave of Round of 16 matches will start at 11 a.m. Sunday on ESPN and continue at noon on ESPN Deportes. Late match coverage will start at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

Williams, who upset No. 2 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the second round. The 23-time Grand Slam champion will take on Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia for a spot in the quarterfinal. That match is expected to start on 7 p.m. Friday on ESPN2.

No. 12 Cori “Coco” Gauff and No. 20 Madison Keys are scheduled to meet in an All-American matchup earlier Friday in the third round. No. 5 Ons Jabeur of Switzerland and defending champion Bianca Andreescu are among the other top women who will be in action Friday at the U.S. Open.

No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland and No. 8 Jessica Pegula of the United States will take the court Saturday for their third-round matches.

No. 1 Daniil Medvedev of Russia, No. 5 Casper Ruud of Norway and No. 12 Pablo Carreno will be among the top men in action Friday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

LIV Golf

LIV Golf Boston, the fourth tournament of the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series season, will run from Friday through Sunday at The International Golf Club in Bolton, Mass.

Tournament coverage for the three-round tournament will start at 2 p.m. EDT Friday, Saturday and Sunday and air on DAZN, YouTube, Facebook and LIVGolf.com.

Cameron Smith, the No. 2 player in the Official World Golf Ranking, will make his LIV Golf debut. He is the top golfer in the 48-player field.

No. 19 Joaquin Niemann, No. 22 Dustin Johnson, No. 17 Abraham Ancer, No. 26 Brooks Koepka, No. 31 Louis Oosthuizen, No. 33 Paul Casey, No. 34 Kevin Na, No. 37 Bryson DeChambeau, No. 38 Jason Kokrak, No. 45 Talor Gooce, No. 46 Harold Varner III and No. 50 Patrick Reed are among the other Top 50 players in the field.

Smith, Johnson, Niemann, Gooch, Oosthuizen, Casey, Reed and DeChambeau are among the favorites to claim the title and $4 million first-place prize.

The controversial, Saudi-financed rival series of the PGA Tour will continue with LIV Golf Chicago from Sept. 16 through 18 in Sugar Grove, Ill. The 2022 edition of the series will end with the championship from Oct. 27 through 30 at Trump National Doral in Miami.

College football

The college football season kicked off last week, but most teams will start their campaigns this weekend. More than 100 teams will play Saturday and another four teams will play Sunday.

Michigan State, the No. 14 team in the coaches poll, will be the first ranked team to play this weekend. The Spartans will host Western Michigan at 7 p.m. Friday on ESPN.

Indiana will host Illinois at 8 p.m. on FS1. Colorado will battle TCU at 10 p.m. on ESPN.

Saturday’s slate will include eight games at noon. No. 7 Texas A&M will face Sam Houston in one of those games on SEC Network. No. 6 Michigan will host Colorado State on ABC. No. 13 NC State will face East Carolina on ESPN.

No. 22 Cincinnati and No. 23 Arkansas will meet at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN. No. 12 Oregon will face No. 3 Georgia at the same time on ABC.

No. 17 Miami will play Bethune-Cookman at 3:30 p.m. on ACC Network. No. 9 Oklahoma will face UTEP at the same time on Fox.

No. 8 Utah will battle Florida at 7 p.m. on ESPN. No. 1 Alabama will face Utah State at 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network. One of the best matchups this weekend will feature No. 5 Notre Dame and No. 2 Ohio State. That matchup will air at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.

Weekend schedule (all times EDT)

Friday

Golf

LIV Golf Boston: First round at 2 p.m. on DAZN, YouTube, Facebook, LIVGolf.com

MLB

Marlins at Braves at 7 p.m. on Apple TV+

Phillies at Giants at 10 p.m. on Apple TV+

College football

Western Kentucky at Michigan State at 7 p.m. on ESPN

Illinois at Indiana at 8 p.m. on FS1

TCU at Colorado at 10 p.m. on ESPN

Saturday

Soccer

Premier League: Liverpool at Everton at 7:30 a.m. at USA Network

Serie A: Juventus at Fiorentina at 9 a.m. on Paramount+

Bundesliga: Bayern Munich at FC Union Berlin at 9:30 a.m. on ESPN+

Premier League: Leeds United at Brentford at 10 a.m. at USA Network

Premier League: West Ham United at Chelsea at 10 a.m. on Peacock Premium

Premier League: Crystal Palace at Newcastle United at 10 a.m. on Peacock Premium

Premier League: AFC Bournemouth at Nottingham Forest at 10 a.m. on Peacock Premium

Premier League: Fulham at Tottenham Hotspur at 10 a.m. on Peacock Premium

Premier League: Southampton at Wolves at 10 a.m. on Peacock Premium

La Liga: Real Betis at Real Madrid at 10:15 a.m. on ESPN+

Serie A: Inter Milan at AC Milan at noon on Paramount+

La Liga: Atletico at Real Sociedad at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN+

Premier League: Manchester City at Aston Villa at 12:30 p.m. on NBC

Ligue 1: PSG at Nantes at 3 p.m. on beIN Sports

La Liga: Barcelona at Sevilla at 3 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: Dallas at Minnesota at 3:30 p.m. on Twitter

MLS: Chicago at Columbus at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: Philadelphia at New York Red Bulls at 7 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: Charlotte at Cincinnati at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: Austin at Nashville at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN+

College football

Sam Houston at Texas A&M at noon on SEC Network

South Dakota State at Iowa at noon on FS1

Colorado State at Michigan at noon on abc

NC State at East Carolina at noon on ESPN

Cincinnati at Arkansas at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN

Oregon at Georgia at 3:30 p.m. on ABC

Arizona at San Diego State at 3:30 p.m. on CBS

Bethune-Cookman at Miami at 3:30 p.m. on ACC Network

Tulsa at Wyoming at 3:30 p.m. on FS1

UTEP at Oklahoma at 3:30 p.m. on Fox

Houston at UTSA at 3:30 p.m. on CBSSN

Troy at Ole Miss at 4 p.m. on SEC Network

BYU at South Florida at 4 p.m. on ESPNU

Rice at USC at 6 p.m. on Pac-12 Network

Utah at Florida at 7 p.m. on ESPN

Miami University at Kentucky at 7 p.m. on ESPN+

Illinois State at Wisconsin at 7 p.m. on FS1

Albany at Baylor at 7 p.m. on ESPN+

Utah State at Alabama at 7:30 p.m. on SEC Network

Notre Dame at Ohio State at 7:30 p.m. on ABC

Boise State at Oregon State at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN

Kent State at Washington at 10:30 p.m. on FS1

Golf

LIV Golf Boston: Second round at 2 p.m. on DAZN, YouTube, Facebook, LIVGolf.com

MLB

Twins at White Sox at 7 p.m. on Fox

Mariners at Guardians at 7 p.m. on Fox

Sunday

Soccer

Premier League: Leicester City at Brighton at 8 a.m. on USA Network

Premier League: Arsenal at Manchester United at 11 a.m. on USA Network

MLS: Atlanta at Portland at 5:30 p.m. on Fox

MLS: Colorado at DC United at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: Montreal at Toronto at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: Kansas City at Los Angeles Galaxy at 8 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: NYCFC at New England at 8 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: Houston at Seattle at 9 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: Vancouver at San Jose at 9:30 p.m. on ESPN+

MLS: Salt Lake at LAFC at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN+

Formula 1

Dutch Grand Prix at 8:55 a.m. on ESPN

MLB

Blue Jays at Pirates at noon on Peacock

Padres at Dodgers at 7 p.m. on ESPN

WNBA playoffs

Semifinals: Chicago at Connecticut at 1 p.m. on ESPN2

Semifinals: Las Vegas at Seattle at 3 p.m. on ABC

Golf

LIV Golf Boston: Final round at 2 p.m. on DAZN, YouTube, Facebook, LIVGolf.com

College football

Florida A&M vs. Jackson State at 3 p.m. on ESPN2

Florida State vs. LSU at 7:30 p.m. on ABC

NASCAR

Cup Series Cook Out Southern 500 at 6 p.m. on USA Network