Regular Season Finales

So we're down to one more episode of Season 1 of "The Following," and TigerBlog can't believe he's still watching this show.

If you haven't seen it, this is the Kevin Bacon show where he's an FBI consultant trying to track down the serial killer he arrested a long time ago yet who twice escaped from death row and who, from death row, put together this elaborate plan for, well, nobody knows yet, with the help of the members of his cult, that he also was able to assemble from death row.

At times, it's simply awful, because it's vaults way past the acceptable level of "that could never happen" and becomes a head-shaking farce in which FBI agents turns their backs on suspects, guard central figures with two people, storm houses with bad guys in them with no backup and other such ridiculous moves.

At it's best, it has very dramatic, nobody-saw-it-coming plot twists, though they're often so contrived that nobody could possibly see them coming.

Still, there's something that has kept TB hooked for 14 episodes, with just one to go. Surely it's not the need to find out what happens, because whatever it is, it'll be somewhat silly.

TB can buy Bacon in his role. He struggles with the woman from Law & Order in her role as a leader in the FBI, in that she is so inept that her decision making has left her buried alive in a box with her hands and feet bound, though according to the coming attractions, she is somehow able to 1) access her cell phone, 2) call Bacon and 3) get reception in the middle of the woods while buried in a box.

As an aside, TigerBlog couldn't handle being in the box out in an open field somewhere, let alone in the box buried in the ground in the woods in the pitch dark. At least not since he had an MRI.

The real problem with the show to TB, though, is the serial killer guy, who, as TB said before, looks a little like Hugh Jackman.

He's just not a convincing arch-villain. He's trying to be one of those really creepy-understated-seems-nice-enough-you-forget-he-kills-everyone-he-sees type of guys. Sort of like another seemingly good guy, Hannibal Lecter.

For whatever reason, it's not working. Maybe it's because TB can't get past the idea that he ever would have walked out of death row simply by altering the video camera that was watching the exit.

Either way, he's just not convincing. He's more of a parody of a serial killer.

And for all that, TB is 14 for 14 in watching so far. With one more episode left. He'll definitely tune in for that one too.

Between now and then, there is the little matter of Princeton-Cornell men's lacrosse, which takes place Saturday at MetLife Stadium as part of the Konica Minolta Big City Classic, which begins with the Tigers and Big Red at 4 and concludes with Syracuse-Notre Dame at 6:30. Like Episode 15 of "The Following," Princeton-Cornell will be the regular season finale.

Both teams are already assured of being in the Ivy League tournament. Cornell, which won the Ivy title, will be the host team, and Princeton and Yale will be in it, along with either Harvard or Penn.

For Princeton, it's not about getting to the Ivy tournament. It's about getting to the NCAA tournament - and then making some noise when there.

Princeton has shown in its one-goal losses against North Carolina (No. 1 in the coaches' poll) and Syracuse that it can play with anyone.

It controlled John Hopkins from start to finish on Hopkins' home field, when the Blue Jays were undefeated and before Hopkins lost in OT to Carolina. It beat Hofstra by three, just before Hofstra beat Notre Dame (No. 1 in the media poll) and long before Hofstra lost four one-goal games.

The Tigers are 8-4 overall, and all four losses are by a single, excruciating goal. The result is that Princeton is not a lock for the NCAA tournament by any stretch, though with an RPI of 18 and some huge games to be played, it still has a good chance of getting in.

The best way would be to win two games in Ithaca next weekend, winning the Ivy tournament and getting the automatic bid. Or to beat Cornell, whose RPI is now five.

Of course, Princeton could also play Cornell Saturday and then in the Ivy semifinal, and should the Tigers lose both, they would be firmly on the bubble.

The good news is that Princeton has all kinds of chances in front of it. Yale's RPI is now 11; should the Bulldogs win the Ivy tournament, then that would certainly push them into the Top 10, and Princeton owns a win over Yale.

The NCAA selections are complex, and made even more difficult by the need to rely on such a small sample size of games, of which there are some huge ones this weekend.

No team has more to gain Saturday than Princeton. A win would be huge; a loss wouldn't by any means end the Tigers' chances.

TB will be there. And he'll be watching "The Following" later on.

He's rooting for Princeton and Kevin Bacon.