Bowl games begin in earnest with Grambling State vs. North Carolina A&T (ABC, noon) in the Celebration Bowl, Troy vs. North Texas (ESPN, 1 p.m.) in the New Orleans Bowl, Western Kentucky vs Georgia State (CBS Sports, 2:30 p.m.) in the Cure Bowl, Boise State vs. Oregon (ABC, 3:30 p.m.) in the New Mexico Bowl, and Middle Tennessee vs. Arkansas State (ESPN, 8 p.m.) in the Camela Bowl.
The lesser of the holiday Peanuts specials airs:The 2003 “I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown” (ABC, 8 p.m.).
On the new “Eat, Sleep, BBQ” (Food, 9 p.m.) hosted by Rashad Jones, recent winner of “Guy’s Big Project,” he travels in search of the best pit masters.
It was meant to be a limited series, but “Ten Days in the Valley” (ABC, 9 and 10 p.m.) never made it past four. It picks up suddenly again as something to show on a Saturday night few will be watching. They burn off two episodes.
How bad a Saturday night is it? There’s the ugliness of UFC (Fox, 8 p.m.) in prime time.
“Going in Style” (HBO, 8 p.m.),with Morgan Freeman, Michael Freeman and Alan Arkin pulling a heist, makes its premium cable debut, as does “A Family Man” (Starz, 8 p.m.) with Gerard Butler and Alison Brie, and “The Rendezvous” (Showtime, 9 p.m.) with Stana Katic and Raza Jaffrey.
On the new made-for-TV romance “Christmas Next Door” (Hallmark, 8 p.m.), Jesse Metcalfe plays a writer who hates decorations, but is convinced otherwise by a neighbor played by Fiona Gubelmann.
There’s a similar humbug vs. holiday spirit going in the romance “Snowed Inn Christmas” (Lifetime, 8 p.m.) with Bethany Joy Lenz and Andrew Walker starring as a couple who have to stay in a local Inn when snow cancels their flight.
Other holiday fare includes “Elf” (Freeform, 7 p.m.), “Home Alone: Holiday Heist” (Disney, 7 p.m.), “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (Freeform, 9:15 p.m.) and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” (CMT, 11 p.m.).
On another show that uses “Inn” as a double meaning, a couple engaged for 11 years goes to the hotel on the series “Checked Inn” (OWN, 10 p.m.).
The person who buried a woman alive may have been influenced by the film “Kill Bill” on “CopyCat Killers” (Reelz, 10 p.m.).
There are two episodes tonight of “Cat vs. Dog” (Animal Planet, 8 and 9 p.m.). So maybe it’s a draw.
Stashed Gold Rush fortune is sought on the second season finale of “Secrets of the Underground” (Science, 10 p.m.).
Miss Robbie performs on “Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s” (OWN, 9 p.m.).
For those who don’t want to wait in line at theaters for the new “Star Wars,” or simply want a refresher, her’s a slew of previous chapters on today including “Episode I: The Phantom Menace” (TNT, 1:54 p.m.), “Episode II: Attack of the Clones” (TNT, 4:54 p.m.), “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” (TNT, 8 p.m.), and “Episode IV: A New Hope” (TNT, 11 p.m.).
“Ghost Adventures” (Travel, 9 p.m.) goes to Vegas.
Jessica Chasten, Dawn French, rebel Wilson, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack black and the High Flying Birds are all on a new episode of “The Graham Norton Show” (BBC America, 10 p.m.).
Debbie Reynolds is featured on Turner Classic Movies in “Singin’ in the Rain” (8 p.m.), “Bundle of Joy” (10 p.m.) and “Susan Left Here” (midnight). Horror movies about human-animal hybrids are next, with “Twilight People” (TCM, 2 a.m.) and “Island of Lost Souls” (TCM, 3:45 a.m.).
A couple of rare Saturday pro football games have Chicago at Detroit (NFL, 4:30 p.m.) and Chargers at Kansas City (NFL, 8:25 p.m.).
Hockey has Montreal at Ottawa (NBC Sports, 7 p.m.) in the NHL 100 Classic, played outdoors, where the temperature is expected to be about 7 degrees Fahrenheit.
Men’s college basketball includes Miami at George Washington (CBS Sports, noon), Butler vs. Purdue (Fox, noon), Louisville vs. Memphis (ESPN2, noon), Detroit Mercy vs. Michigan (ESPNU, noon), Syracuse at Georgetown (CBS, 12:30 p.m.), Virginia Tech at Kentucky (ESPN2, 2 p.m.), Michigan State vs. Oakland (ESPNU, 2 p.m.), Northwestern at DePaul (Fox Sports1, 2 p.m.), Indiana vs. Notre Dame (Fox, 2:30 p.m.), Georgia at Massachusetts (NBS Sports, 3 p.m.), Cincinnati at UCLA (CBS, 3:30 p.m.), Oklahoma at Wichita State (EPN2, 4 p.m.), Oregon at Fresno State (CBS Sports, 6 p.m.), Kansas at Nebraska (Fox Sports 1, 8 p.m.), Arizona at New Mexico (CBS Sports, 8 p.m.) and Utah at BYU (ESPN2, 11 p.m.).
In pro basketball, it’s Oklahoma City at New York (NBA, 7:30 p.m.).
Golf’s Father/Son Challenge (Golf, 11 a.m.; NBC, 4 p.m.) begins.
U.S. Olympic trials are conducted in curling (NBC Sports, 10 p.m.) and speedskating (NBC, 2:30 p.m.).
Ryan Adams and Shakey Graves perform on an “Austin City Limits” (PBS, 11 p.m.) from last year.
Kevin Hart hosts a new “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 11:30 p.m.) with Foo Fighters as musical guests.