On a day like this, you have to wonder which invention is more useful: the snowblower or the DVR?

While many TV viewers in the area will be following the heroic exploits of Jack Bauer tonight on “24,” we’ll be tuned into a “Big Monday” showdown between Marquette and Louisville over on ESPN.

The Golden Eagles, who looked slightly downtrodden after losses to Providence and Syracuse, rebounded last week in the best way possible last week, which is to say they beat a pair of Top 25 teams: UConn on the road and West Virginia at home.

The rigorous schedule in the Big East allows little time to savor big victories, so Marquette will play its longtime rival tonight in a nationally televised game that has drawn a marquee crew from the Worldwide Leader – Sean McDonough, Bill Raftery and Jay Bilas.

It should be good theater on a number of fronts. When they play with confidence and cohesion (and hit a few shots), the Golden Eagles look like they can hang with any team in the country (Duke, Texas Tech, UConn, etc.). When they don’t, well, just look at the “L” next to the North Dakota State game on the schedule and you’ll get the idea.

The Louisville game is a promising matchup. While Marquette was surprising the league a year ago, the Cardinals failed to win back-to-back games. That changed over the weekend, when coach Rick Pitino went with a small lineup and was rewarded with a comfortable 15-point victory over the same Providence team that handled Marquette (though the Golden Eagles were without Jerel McNeal).

Pitino used four guards in a victory over South Florida leading up to the Providence game, so it will be interesting to see if he stays small against Marquette’s three-pronged attack of Dominic James, McNeal and Wesley Matthews.

"I think you know coaches are very superstitious," Pitino told Louisville reporters Saturday. “You keep wearing the same tie when you win. I'm not about to change right now when we've won two in a row. And we're playing good basketball, so it's not just about winning."

Look for Louisville to play a lot of zone and look for guard Jerry Smith to have a spring in his step. The former Wauwatosa East star, who was recruited by Marquette, is starting as a redshirt freshman and is emerging as one of the team’s leading scoring threats.

Here are some notes to consider between shoveling snow and wondering what you’ll do now that ESPN has canceled “Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith”:

Thanks to Pro Bowl kicker Robbie Gould, the Bears are a game away from the Super Bowl. They still didn’t look all that great against a beatable Seattle outfit.

A lot of people will blame Chargers coach Marty Schottenheimer for his team’s failure to dispatch New England on Sunday. I saw some of the game and it didn’t look like Schottenheimer was the guy fumbling after an interception or being flagged for ridiculous penalties. The Chargers have some outstanding pieces, but they haven’t quite put them together and learned to win. Remember when the Packers seemed to lose to the Cowboys year after year? If the fans in San Diego stay patient, they will be rewarded sooner rather than later.

You’ve got to hand it to Barry Bonds, don’t you? One of his buddies is sitting in jail for his alleged drug use and then he tries to throw a teammate – former Brewers pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney – under the bus to beat the rap in a greenies case? The only reason to feel any sympathy for Barry is that it is quite likely that somebody in the Major League Baseball hierarchy leaked his positive test result to New York Daily News reporter T.J. Quinn. Barry couldn’t have been the only player to fail a test, could he? Did Scooter Libby take a job with MLB?

The Badgers probably will not “run the table” the rest of the Big 10 season, but at least they didn’t lose to Northwestern.

When you see the Bucks game postponed because of inclement weather (the Hornets couldn’t get out of Oklahoma), doesn’t it make you glad that Miller Park has a roof?

There were plenty of Brewer sightings around town this week as the club had a handful of players in for the “Winter Warmup.” Several of the boys were at the Bucks’ game on Wednesday against Toronto. Ben Sheets attended the Marquette-West Virginia game.

Speaking of the Brewers, owner Mark Attanasio said that the sales department is having a good off-season. The new club areas should do brisk business.

Congratulations to former Brewers first baseman Lyle Overbay, who agreed to a four-year, $24 million contract with Toronto over the weekend. With Prince Fielder deemed ready for prime time, the Brewers traded Overbay and Ty Taubenheim for Dave Bush, Gabe Gross and Zach Jackson.

Overbay hit .312 with 22 homers and 92 RBI for the Blue Jays last season and hit 46 doubles. Since 2003, Overbay leads the majors in doubles with 133.

Former Bucks guard Steve Blake, shipped to Denver in exchange for Earl Boykins and Julius Hodge, scored 25 points in a victory Sunday over Portland. While that may quiet the rumors that the Nuggets were shopping Blake to Cleveland for awhile, Bucks fans will be excused for wondering if Blake scored that many points in the first two months in Milwaukee.

Look for Boykins, who is 5-4 1/2 and benches 350 pounds, to become a fan favorite at the Bradley Center. 

Congratulations and best wishes to Journal Sentinel sports reporter Rick Braun, who will cover the Brewers / baseball this year along with Tom Haudricourt. Braun, who covered the Bucks in the late 1980s and early 1990s, had recently been working for Packer Plus magazine. The Journal Sentinel sports section also will be looking to replace one of its top copy editors, as “Ballpark” Frank Clines announced that he will retire from full-time duty this spring.