Lance Armstrong has confessed to Oprah, and those who promote American cycling are left to clean up the mess. Only A Game’s Karen Given has our story.

This week it was revealed that Notre Dame star and Heisman runner up Manti T’eo had spent the season publicly mourning the death of his girlfriend…who never existed. Bill Littlefield and Sports Illustrated’s Michael Rosenberg try to make sense of the bizarre hoax.

After taking down the Houston Texans last weekend, New England will play Baltimore for a spot in the Super Bowl. This is the second consecutive AFC title game matchup between the two teams and earlier this season, the Ravens defeated the Patriots by a single point. Bill Littlefield has a preview.

On Sunday, second-year quarterback Colin Kaepernick has a chance to take San Francisco to the Super Bowl when the 49ers meet Atlanta in the NFC Championship. It would be San Francisco’s first Super Bowl appearance since 1995. Bill Littlefield discusses Kaepernick’s recent success with Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle.

After a three-month lockout, the NHL season finally begins this weekend. The lockout’s been tough, especially for fans. But the road to a repeat championship victory is even tougher, especially after a lockout. OAG’s Susan Valot has the story from Los Angeles.

Most Olympic gold medal swimmers turn pro and lose the opportunity to compete for their high schools. 17-year-old American Missy Franklin is the exception to that rule. Bill Littlefield spoke with The Wall Street Journal’s Stu Woo about Franklin’s latest endeavors.

Two-time Olympian John Thomas died on Tuesday at the age of 71. Bill Littlefield remembers the man who — though he never won gold — accomplished a great deal.

This week Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce joins Bill Littlefield to discuss scandals … and a little sports news, too. On the agenda: Lance Armstrong’s chat with Oprah the Manti T’eo hoax — and one of the funniest jokes to come out of it, the NHL’s return, the NFL playoffs and more.

Imagine two nations that have more in common than most families. Then imagine four wars and a stockpile of nuclear weapons on both sides. This is the backstory each time India and Pakistan meet to play cricket. India and Pakistan recently played a three-game series in Delhi and Calcutta. Only A Game’s Ken Shulman was there.

Only A Game’s Gary Waleik shares some info about the music on this week’s show.