November 19, 2007 | Volume 107, Issue 20

Last year's Pac-10 surprise will stage another three-for-all, while applying a bit more muscle

All eyes are on a prized recruit, but the Trojans really need their Taj to be monumental

Getting past the Bulldogs will be a tall order, but it's the little guy who is key to the season

Schooled by pros, the sophomore playmaker is poised to become the next Longhorns legend

A lockdown defense and a well-rounded star will again have the Salukis in the hunt in March

Just like they Drew it up, a mature band of Muskies are panting for a deep March run

The new boss is great at whipping up instant winners, but he could use a big man (or three)

Despite enough at-large, mid-major bids to make Billy Packer groan, the Big East and Pac-10 will rule on Selection Sunday

NASCAR Another day, another win: At Phoenix, Jimmie Johnson takes his fourth straight and appears headed for the Cup • Hendrick hegemony • Gordon racks up his 29th top 10 finish

Closing Fast

1 With one event left in the season, Hendrick Motorsports has now won 18 of the 35 races in 2007. How impressive has Hendrick's supremacy been? The last team to win at least half of the races in a...

Wave Runner

1 Clemson (8--2), which won its last ACC championship in 1991, will earn a trip to the conference title game if it beats slumping Boston College this Saturday. QB Cullen Harper has thrown for 12...

Inland Empire

LAWRENCE (Franklin, Maine) vs. BONNY EAGLE (Standish, Maine), Nov. 17

RUNNING WILD In a 40--19 win over Albany (Ga.) last Thursday senior RB Chris Clay of Randolph Clay (Cuthbert, Ga.) had the second-highest rushing total in state history (450 yards) and finished...

1 NORTHWESTERN (Miami) 10--0 Playoffs begin: D must stop Coral Gables (Fla.) offense (30.6 ppg)

Big Uneasy

Second-year nickelback Antonio Cromartie (right) leads the NFL with six interceptions after picking off Peyton Manning three times on Sunday night. Cromartie's size (6'2", 203), athleticism (he's...

I should have known better. The sun was shining, the leaves were putting on a dazzling autumn show, and I was buying into all the beautiful angles of November. Promise finally fulfilled, the...

Ripping NFL quarterbacking has become a favorite pastime this year. We all know there are teams in bad situations—Atlanta, Baltimore, Carolina, Chicago, Kansas City, Minnesota—and we all see the...

What Letdown?

Rangers pest Sean Avery (right) has again gone over the line. On Nov. 3 his taunting of Devils goalie Martin Brodeur during warmups incited New Jersey forward David Clarkson to go after Avery....

MARCUS FREEMAN, a star line-backer for Ohio State, wakes up in his princely room at the Blackwell Inn in Columbus, one of the best in the city. Nothing is too plush for a Buckeye. The athletic...

High Mass

Maybe Notre Dame and Charlie Weis isn't a match made in heaven

DAVID BECKHAM is in his own galaxy as a superstar, but Shalrie Joseph may be MLS's best midfielder—an unyielding tackler, a sublime passer, a terror on penalty kicks. Joseph plays a tough game...

WHO'S Hot

Not counting quarterback, what is the most important position in football?

Adopted By Major League Baseball, a policy requiring first- and third-base coaches to wear head protection. The move was prompted by the death of Mike Coolbaugh, who was struck in the neck by a...

GOTHAM FANS are a notoriously fickle bunch, so it says something that when Camel cigarettes was looking for a New York athlete to put on a Times Square billboard in the early 1960s, it chose Dick...

24 Rebounds for Kansas State freshman Michael Beasley, who set the Big 12 single-game record in his debut, against Sacramento State last Friday.

A pheasant hunter in Iowa was shot in the calf with more than 100 pellets when he laid down his shotgun to retrieve a bird and his dog stepped on the trigger.

PHIL JACKSON Lakers coach, on his decision to make Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher captains this year: "I was sitting on the john one day, and I said, 'That's a good idea.'"

Boxing's champion Norman Mailer never stood in a neutral corner

Saints DE Charles Grant makes a N'awlins meal

INGREDIENTS

IT'S ONE of the most pressing questions in the history of American sports: Why did Dave Kingman (below) strike out so much? We may now have an answer.

An infectious new arena anthem has some raunchy lyrics

EARLY IN the HBO documentary Michigan vs. Ohio State: The Rivalry, which premiered on Tuesday, Michigander John Bacon calls former Ohio State coach Woody Hayes the "one evil force" in his...

What to watch and watch for

Denise Infante SANTIAGO, CHILE > Field Hockey Infante, a senior defender at American, was named Patriot League defensive player of the year for a second time. A second-team All-America last year,...

Behind their go-for-broke quarterback and two high-profile reclamation projects, the Cowboys overpowered the Giants to gain separation in the NFC East. Looming ahead: a showdown with the Packers...

While the Patriots chase perfection, the last perfect team watches its legacy turn to ashes

She Says, Z Says

Illinois's upset of No. 1 Ohio State shook up an already tumultuous race for the national championship. With three weeks left, here's who is in the best shape to play for the title

RANKED NO. 1 IN BOTH POLLS and by the computers, LSU is the clear-cut favorite to get to the BCS title game. Oregon was the biggest beneficiary of the Ohio State loss, but the Ducks have to be...

3 4 5

6 7

THEIR PROSPECTS FOR GETTING TO the title game aren't good (O.K., darn near zero), but other BCS bowl bids are at stake. Arizona State could get to the Rose with a victory over USC, while the...

His arrival would create a new set of problems. But if the Bulls don't start winning soon, they may have no choice but to make a deal for Kobe Bryant

Bull Market

Two freshmen, old pals, have arrived in L.A. to turn a classic football rivalry into a crosstown hoops war. It's USC vs. UCLA. It's O.J. Mayo vs. Kevin Love

'Bag It Read Grant Wahl's college basketball mailbag every Wednesday.

College hoops' hottest rivalries

Everyone knows about Duke--North Carolina. But college hoops feuds can't get much more contentious than these burgeoning battles, fueled by poaching coaches, blue-chip recruits, buzzer-beaters and...

During a stunning run to the finals and its painful aftermath, Rutgers forward Essence Carson became the voice of her embattled team

Seasoned UConn will end its Final Four "drought" and reign again in April

A fast-break run through the top players, the compelling stories and the underdogs to watch this season

SI's TOP 20

Full-Court Press

Ankles of Pursuit With Vikings defenders flying at him, Packers quarterback Brett Favre turned to self- (and ball-) preservation on Sunday in Green Bay. Upright, he was the one who inflicted pain:...

The Tar Heels' merriest prankster is highly serious about getting them to the Final Four

Adding a frosh prince, this battle-tested Bruins team finally may finally find its way to a title

After a year at Iowa, the return of this native son has the Volunteers thinking San Antonio

The Tigers are experienced, deep and talented. Their coach wonders whether that'll be enough

Big men are a Hoyas tradition, but a versatile guard could be the key to a Final Four return

The do-everything sophomore is gone. Enter another sophomore forward who can do it all

The Cardinals get serious about winning a title, but they still have work to do on defense

A hardened senior and a precocious freshman are ready to lead the Hoosiers deep into March

Deep and seasoned, the Cougars are out to prove that a record-setting season was no fluke

After their martial arts training, the undersized Golden Eagles figure they can fight to the end

Led by a surprising scoring threat, the deep Spartans will try to run opponents off the court

There's no established go-to guy, but there is a freshman forward who's happy to fill the role

Used to winning ugly, the Aggies have a new coach, a new star and a new plan in motion

Stellar seasons that, for one reason or another, haven't gotten their due

Thinking of making a move? Run your proposal by other owners at SI.com/fantasy.

WE LIKE THE MATCHUP

WE DON'T LIKE THE MATCHUP

EPSTEIN'S THEORY ON The Home Stretch

They're a bit out of their element, but Suzannah Sorrell's huskies (above) didn't mind their trip to the beach. Sorrell, who lives in Welborne, England, and her four-dog team set a world record...

A new photo book explores bullfighting's brutal beauty

Hockey inducts its top Hall of Fame class, and SI picks the best of the rest

IMAGINE IF Eric Lindros had been a late-round draft selection, rather than the No. 1 pick of 1991. Imagine if he hadn't refused to join the Quebec Nordiques, forcing a trade of preposterous...

Baseball G.M.'s are set for a tradefest; here's why

GEORGE STEINBRENNER'S sons, Hal (left) and Hank (right), have taken over the Yankees' operations from their aging father, meaning two virtual unknowns run the most valuable franchise in U.S....