1) Football, 7 p.m. ET, CW; pre-game at 6:30. Let’s call this the PAC-12 Conference championship game. That was a big deal in the days with UCLA, USC and Oregon. Alas, those teams and others departed, leaving a sort of PAC-2. (Six new ones will join in 2026.) Now those two collide, with Washington State (shown here, with a 8-2 record) at Oregon State (4-6).
2) More football. Fox has the big one, with surprising Indiana (ranked No. 5) at unsurprising Ohio State (No. 2), at noon ET. Other key match-ups: Brigham Young (No. 14) at Arizona State (No. 21), at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN; and Army (No. 19) at Notre Dame (No. 6), at 7 on NBC and Peacock.
3) “Three Wiser Men and a Baby,” 8-10 p.m., Hallmark. This network used to have a steady formula: Comedy was scarce; guys were just in support. Then “Three Wise Men and a Baby” – a light tale with guys finding a baby at Christmastime — was the most-watched cable movie of 2022. Now Hallmark has more guys and more laughs; it also has this sequel.
4) More Christmas, TBS. The big holiday push starts Thursday, but TBS can’t wait. It has “Fred Claus” (2007) at 2 p.m. and then two cartoons, one good (“The Year Without a Santa Claus,” 4:27 p.m.) and one great (“How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” 5:30). “Christmas Vacation” (1989) is at 6 p.m., with “Elf” (2003) at 10.
5) “Meet Me in St. Louis” (1944), 6 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. Vincente Minnelli directed Judy Garland in a gorgeous film that introduced “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” … which wasn’t one of the year’s 12 Oscar nominees for best song. “The Trolley Song” was, but it lost to “Swinging on a Star.”
— Mike Hughes, TV