Home. Away. And Both.

This is a 21-event weekend for Princeton Athletics.

That's a reasonably busy stretch from today through Sunday. If TigerBlog counted correctly, there will be 13 Princeton teams who compete during the next three days.

After that, the rest of the month quiets down quite a bit.

In fact, beginning Monday, there will be 11 more days in the month (and year) with at least one athletic event and 12 without any. That includes a week-long stretch from the women's basketball game on the 20th at St. Louis to the men's hockey game at home against Quinnipiac on the 28th where there are no events at all.

Other than final exams in January, it'll be the longest run without any events from late August until the last athletic event of the academic year.

If you're counting it all up, there are 21 events this weekend, then 12 more between then and the break before Christmas, followed by eight more between Christmas and New Year's. In other words, there are 21 events this weekend and then 20 more from Monday (the ninth) through the New Year.

There are some teams that are home this weekend. There are some that are away.

And there are some that are both home and away.

One is the men's track and field team, which will be competing at its own New Year's Invitational here and in Boston at a different meet, both Saturday. That will be a matter of sending some athletes to one and some to the other. It's not quite the itinerary of the other Princeton team that is both home and away. 

That would be the wrestling team. It's not exactly like the Tigers are at, say, Rider or Rutgers tonight and then home Sunday. And it's not like they're playing just any teams on their weekend.

TigerBlog, for that matter, can't remember a team that has bitten off what the Tigers are doing this weekend. Princeton opens its weekend tonight at 8 Eastern (7 Central) at No. 9 Oklahoma State. Then it's back on the plane to come home to host Iowa Sunday at 2.

And where is Iowa ranked? How about No. 1?
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To recap, that's a flight to Oklahoma, a match against the No. 9 team in the country, a flight back to Princeton and then another match against the No. 1 team in the country. Sunday's match, by the way, will be in Jadwin Gym.

Iowa, by the way, last wrestled this past Sunday, defeating Wisconsin 32-2. Wisconsin was ranked, hmm, checking, checking ... sixth in the country.

You have to give it to Chris Ayres and his staff for doing what they've done to make Princeton nationally relevant in wrestling. The Tigers are the 12th-ranked team in the country, making them the highest ranked EIWA and Ivy League team.

From the preview on goprincetontigers.com:
Against Oklahoma State, two possible highlight rematches include third-ranked Nick Piccininni of Oklahoma State and Princeton's fourth-ranked Patrick Glory, which went 10-4 to Piccininni last year, and second-ranked Patrick Brucki of Princeton against Oklahoma State's sixth-ranked Dakota Geer, when went to Brucki last year 8-4.

Against Iowa, Glory could have the chance at 125 to wrestle two-time defending NCAA champion Spencer Lee, who took an 18-2 technical fall in last year's match.  Quincy Monday, ranked No. 9 entering this match, could have the chance for a rematch against current No. 4 Kaleb Young, who took a 7-4 win at 157 last year.

The full preview is HERE.

There's also a pair of home hockey doubleheaders, with the men's game against Colorado College this afternoon at 4 followed at 7 by the women's game against Cornell, while tomorrow it'll be the women first at 3 against Colgate and then the men at 7 against Colorado College again.

There is also home men's and women's swimming and diving, home men's and women's track and field and home men's and women's squash. The women's basketball team, at 6-1, is at 5-1 Marist tomorrow night at 6.

And of course, tonight at 7:30, there is the first round of the NCAA women's volleyball tournament, as Princeton is at Penn State. It's Princeton's eighth NCAA appearance and third in four years.

HERE is the complete schedule for the weekend (and month, for that matter).