5 sports to watch instead of Mayweather vs. McGregor on Saturday night

For months we’ve been bombarded with the notion that Mayweather vs. McGregor is “unmissable,” a similar refrain to the hype before Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. Then everyone realized it sucked and was disappointed.

Imagine, just for a second, that you decided NOT to make the same mistake again? People are going to put clips on social media, and the highlights will make it to TV — so why not keep your wallet full, free yourself of potential buyer’s remorse and get the added benefit of not putting any money in the pockets of two guys who are both pretty horrible people?

Here are some options if you find yourself in front of the TV on Saturday night and want to watch some sports, but don’t want to pay for the fight.

All times Eastern.

College Football: #14 Stanford vs. Rice, 10 p.m., ESPN

Heck yeah there’s college football this weekend! And a ranked team too! It doesn’t matter than the Cardinal are favored by 30.5 points, it’s real, honest, true College Football.

NFL preseason football: Chargers vs. Rams, 8:00 p.m., CBS

It’s Los Angeles vs. Los Angeles in ... Los Angeles. This is the first time to see this happen in the modern era. Might as well enjoy it and see if Jared Goff is progressing.

BIG3 Basketball Championship (replay): 10 p.m., FS1

The championship is being played earlier in the day, but this is a good chance to see it at a more appropriate time. Just avoid social media and enjoy the most-fun 3-on-3 basketball tournament we’ve seen in a while.

UFC Fight Night: Dos Anjos vs. Alvarez (replay), 8 p.m., FS1

If you missed this card from early July then it’s a great chance to scratch your combat itch. This was a really entertaining card with some great finishes, and because it’s already happened we KNOW what we’re getting vs. the complete wild card of Mayweather vs. Pacquaio.

Impact Wrestling, 8 p.m., POP

Quietly, Impact wrestling has been pretty entertaining lately, and it now has a stable of superstars that were old WWE castoffs for that nostalgia edge. This really isn’t a bad option if you want to have something to watch before Stanford vs. Rice.