Tomorrow: Ulster SFC Down v Cavan (Casement Park, 3.30 p.m.)The two heavyweights of Ulster's ancien régime are trying to re-establish themselves on a landscape that has been changed utterly in recent years. The path starts here. They passed like ships in the night in the National League, Down ascending the flight to Division One while Cavan were relegated from the cut-throat Division One B.
But perhaps Cavan's grim experience was more beneficial than Down's relatively smooth stroll through the lower division. They were not exactly shining in their league semi-final win against Donegal and played fitfully in the loss to Offaly.
Still, this is a Down team that scores goals - 13 in the league - and their raid against Tyrone in last year's Ulster final came close to causing a tremendous upset.
Paddy O'Rourke is taking his county in the right direction, harvesting the last out of Greg McCartan and building around Benny Coulter. And this is Down; they play the game with an imperious attitude. They will be favourites to win this game. The feeling here is that if they do so it will be with great ease and exuberance.
But something about that forecast doesn't quite fit.
Cavan were relatively competitive and luckless in the league. They have players who have seen some places - a bandaged-up Dermot McCabe, who will not start, the Reillys, Anthony Forde. Within them lurks know-how and stubbornness.
They beat Laois in a challenge game recently and, remember, took a highly motivated Galway team to the wire in the last league game. They have a knack of living with teams. Summer would not be summer without a trick or two from Eamon Coleman.
Football is cyclical - luck turns, goals dry up just when you need them. Against the odds, Cavan may just grind out a result here.
Munster SFC
Tipperary v Limerick (Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 4 p.m.) - Back to a happy hunting ground for Limerick but under very different circumstances. In a sense, this is a horrible game for Liam Kearns's team as they must deal with the unaccustomed sensation of being heavy favourites.
Tipperary are honest and competitive and hold one of the strongest cards in the All-Ireland in Declan Browne, expected to play at centre-half forward - his duel with Stephen Lucey will be critical. Minimising Browne's influence is easier planned than executed.
The return of Tommy Stack and John Quane to the Limerick team is timely. Limerick have reached a stage in development where they are consciously demanding a Munster championship of themselves.
It is the right approach but brings new pressures. They must keep playing with the fearlessness of last summer without the comfort of having nothing to lose.
That consolation belongs to Tipperary, a county that has been altered considerably by Andy Shortall over the spring.
The composition of the team is 50 per cent changed since Tipperary's last championship game but still operates under the luminosity of Browne. Limerick are physically big, strong at midfield, organised, have forwards that can score and have a smart manager.
Most of all, because of their own heritage, they will be well prepared for the problems that hungry and ambitious counties like Tipperary can cause. That is why is they won't get caught here.
Limerick to win.
Leinster SFC
Wexford v Louth (Parnell Park, 3.30 p.m.) - So audacious was Wexford's league win against Galway that they now face the trick of ensuring it is not remembered as the apotheosis of their season. Reality has bitten somewhat since that wet day of glory.
Wexford's karma was not aided by the sudden abdication of veteran forward Scott Doran, who disappeared off the radar only to resurface on the London club (football) scene.
Worries about the health of their scoring machine Mattie Forde darkened the build-up to this game.
The Leinster championship needs a bright, emergent side like Wexford to light it up.
But this occasion is just about getting through for Pat Roe's team. Louth is a county that has fallen on sad times, suffering six league losses in a row before registering their first league win of the season in front of a handful of people against Waterford.
Val Andrews has been bold in his selection, giving eight new players their championship starts. The entire half-forward line is new. Ollie McDonnell is the last of the old guard. The danger for Wexford is that the cloudy backdrop of the Leinster championship invokes a memory of where they came from as opposed to a concentration on where they want to go. They admit a lack of consistency is a concern.
Louth have no such worries: they have been consistently terrible but it must be a given that they will throw everything into this 70 minutes.
A slow, tough, free-ridden encounter and who knows?
A loss here would be a fatal regression for Wexford. It should not happen. Wexford to win comfortably.
Munster SHC
Cork v Kerry (Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 1.45 p.m.) - A low-key call to arms for Cork. Gone is Setanta Ó hAilpín, Seánie McGrath and last year's captain Alan Browne. Brian Corcoran, reborn as a forward and starting as a substitute here, has a lot of slack to pick up.
Cork announced a sharp young forward in Jonathan O'Callaghan during the league: he is one of three championship newcomers. Kerry's Maurice Leahy is giving eight of his Kerry charges a baptism of fire here.
Cork by plenty.
Leinster SHC
Laois v Meath (Portlaoise, 3.30 p.m.) - Fresh from destroying Carlow, Laois move on to the next round of the championship against a Meath team whose preparation has been compromised by their inability to field a team for one of their last league games against Down.
Laois's hour of truth lies farther down the line; they have too much depth to be troubled by Meath.
Westmeath v Kildare (Mullingar, 3.30 p.m.) - Kildare's preparation for this game was hampered as several of their players were tied to club obligations in the local football championship, a compromise that left them deeply unhappy.
Westmeath must bounce back from the disappointment of losing the promotion play-off for Division One against Down. A win here will start recovery.
Ulster SHC
London v Derry (Ruislip, 3.30 p.m.) - Although they struggled in Division Two of the league this year - ensuring survial with a late win over Mayo - Derry will have enough in reserve to overcome the expatriots.
