An impressive weekend of sports is upon us

Gophers women's basketball is the first stop during Saturday's TV marathon for Minnesota sports fans. The Wild, Timberwolves and Gophers men's basketball, women's basketball, men's hockey and women's hockey are all in action Saturday.

The Wolves host Memphis at 7 p.m. at Target Center and the Gophers men's basketball team hosts Illinois at 7:30 p.m. at Williams Arena, while all other local teams are on the road. The U.S. Figure Skating Championships are also in town Saturday and Sunday.

The busy weekend of sports concludes Sunday with the NFC and AFC championship games that feature a pair of teams (Denver and Arizona) the Vikings narrowly lost to this season.

Here is what you need to know about this weekend's sports lineup (in order of start times):

Gophers women's basketball at Wisconsin, 11 a.m., BTN, 1440-AM

Need to know: The Gophers haven't won more than two games in a row since the first two weeks of the season, but will attempt to break that trend on Saturday morning.

Gophers women's hockey at St. Cloud State, 3:07 p.m., No TV, listen online at gophersports.com

Need to know: Head coach Brad Frost became the program's all-time winningest coach with a 7-0 victory on Friday. He'll go for win 280 on Saturday afternoon.

U.S. Figure Skating Championships, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Channel 11

Need to know: The first set of senior champions will be crowned followed by free skates in pairs, ice dance and women's.

Wild at San Jose, 3 p.m., FSN, 100.3-FM

Need to know: The Wild snapped a five-game losing streak on Thursday night and can cap the California road trip with a 2-1 record if the group can put together back-to-back wins.

Gophers men's hockey at Wisconsin, 7 p.m., CW23, 95.3-FM

Need to know: Another good weekend in conference play would put the Gophers in prime position to make a run at a third straight regular-season title.

Timberwolves at Memphis, 7 p.m., FSN, 830-AM

Need to know: The Wolves fell apart in overtime on Wednesday at Dallas, but hope to recover after losing back-to-back road games.

Gophers men's basketball vs. Illinois, 7:30 p.m., BTN, 1500-AM

Need to know: The Gophers are still looking for their first Big Ten win of the season. They're 0-7 since starting conference play.

SUNDAY

U.S. Figure Skating Championships, 3 p.m., Channel 11

Need to know: The competition concludes with the men's free skate, followed by an exhibition from several of the week's top performers.

AFC Championship game, New England at Denver, 2 p.m., Channel 4, 100.3-FM

Need to know: The No. 2 seed Patriots travel to No. 1 Denver where Peyton Manning will attempt to lead the Broncos to a second Super Bowl appearance in the last three seasons.

NFC Championship game, Arizona at Carolina 5:40 p.m., Channel 9, 100.3-FM

Need to know: No. 1 seed Carolina has lost only one game this season, but has yet to face off against Arizona's veteran quarterback Carson Palmer and veteran wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald (a Minnesota native).