TEAMS WILL BE DRIVING HARD TOWARD THE FINAL FOUR IN SAN ANTONIO, BUT KEEP AN EYE ON DUKE, SI'S CHOICE TO BE THE ONE STILL STANDING WHEN THE DUST SETTLES ON MARCH 30

The Blue Devils are talking about winning another national title now that they have the best freshman class in the country

Points per Game '96-9779.7

The defending champs are stronger, quicker and deeper this year. So how come nobody thinks they'll win again?

Points per Game '96-9783.9

After a summer lamenting the title that got away, the Jay hawks are hack with the nation's best pair of forwards

Points per Game '96-9784.9

The nation's longest winning streak, now 73, belongs to De La Salle of Concord, Calif.

Despite a change at the top, the Tar Heels will return to a familiar look: a pressing defense

Points per Game '96-9777.4

There's no pussycat left in the game played by these fierce Tigers

Points per Game '96-9768.2

The Gamecocks' AH SEC guards will burn foes with their friendly fire

New coach Tubby Smith will rely on an old redshirt to make Big Blue go

Points per Game '96-9774.1

Points per Game '96-9783.1

The Bulldogs hope to make sweet music with a 6'11" rapper in the post

The relentless Musketeers could be the X factor in the NCAA tournament

Points per Game '96-9782.8

Points per Game '96-9783.2

The book on the Boilermakers: They'll go as high as their center lifts them

Points per Game '96-9772.2

Two fired-up seniors should keep the Bruins from going up in flames

A high-flying forward named Su has the new-look Rebels thinking big

Points per Game '96-9779.9

Points per Game '96-9769.0

Don't forget the 49ers when talking about tough teams on Tobacco Road

Points per Game '96-9771.5

Magic is played with cards. It's wildly popular. It's tough to explain

The soft-spoken Lobos will let a strong inside game do their talking

Points per Game '96-9775.8

After some hard times, the maturing Huskies are out to prove themselves

There's nothing like a little internal strife to get the Redbirds to soar

Points per Game '96-9765.8

Points per Game '96-9774.1

Here is SI's ranking of the teams that figure to fill the remaining 48 berths in the NCAA tournament's field of 64. Some are conference winners who will secure automatic bids, and some are squads...

FAMILIAR NAMES DOMINATE THE LIST OF TEAMS FAVORED TO MAKE THE FINAL FOUR IN KANSAS CITY, BUT THE TITLE SHOULD GO TO A SCHOOL THAT HASN'T WON ONE IN A DECADE: LOUISIANA TECH

The Lady Techsters are licking their chops over the prospect of a title

The nation's best player leads the Lady Vols in defense of their title

Points per Game '96-9780.5

Points per Game '96-9777.3

A deep front line and gifted guards will keep the Cardinal in contention

Points per Game '96-9784.3

Freshman point guard Nikki Teasley adds a Magic touch to the Tar Heels

An All-America from Portugal is back for one more run at an NCAA title

Points per Game '96-9778.4

Points per Game '96-9784.4

The Lady Raiders could enjoy home cooking come tournament time

Points per Game '96-9769.7

The players left from the Sensational Seven take their last, best shots

Huskies must overcome departures and disease to return to the Final Four

Points per Game '96-9767.3

Points per Game '96-9783.8

If a dark horse is going to come out of the pack and make the Final Four, it will be from this group of contenders.

THAT'S WHAT JOHN WOODEN SAID, IN EFFECT, TO STEVE LAVIN, AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THE YOUNG UCLA COACH TEACHES HIS PLAYERS

Travelers in Africa who run afoul of hippos may not live to tell the tale

Boston University's lame-duck football team shows its lame-brain chancellor true grit

Courtesy of Catcher Cam, couch potatoes see the pitch as clearly as the batter

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED and CNN team up on the Internet to offer up-to-the-minute sports news and stats as well as stories and photos from the magazine. You can also find SI articles and photos on...

Truth is stranger than fiction. Thank you and Gary Smith for bringing to light the touching and amazing story of John Malangone.PAUL AMIN, STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.

Saturday 11/15

Though golf is played at a leisurely pace, tournament telecasts move briskly because with so many players on the course someone is always lining up a shot. The PGA Grand Slam (TBS, Monday and...

Horse of the Year?...Athletes on Family Leave...Abdul-Jabbar v. Abdul-Jabbar...Transatlantic Rowing...Golfer's Dream...Isiah Lops the Layup Line...The Venus Diaries

22Weight, in pounds, of the pizza devoured in two hours by 282-pound Tulsa guard Brad Smith.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the 7'2", 50-year-old UCLA graduate and NBA Hall of Famer whose name was once Lew Alcindor, has filed suit against Karim Abdul-Jabbar, 23, the 5'10" former Bruin turned Miami...

We have no reason to doubt that Colin Montgomerie was being truthful when he announced that he won't be playing on the PGA Tour next year because he plans to spend more time with his wife, Eimear...

Defensive tackle Sean Gilbert turned down the Washington Redskins' $3.6 million contract offer and won't play this season because he had a "revelation from God" that the team should pay him $5...

Donald GowdySixty-six-year-old winner of the 5K run at the North Carolina Senior State Games, on his sport: "I'm not crazy about running. I just do it to keep in shape for fishing."

When Nebraska's close call left an opening at the top, Michigan and Florida State rushed in to stake separate claims on No. 1

The 1997 heirs to the Florida State dynasty trampled previously undefeated North Carolina and took aim at a second national title in five years

James Todd GravesFORT BENNING, GA.Graves, 34, a staff sergeant and a member of the 1992 and '96 U.S. Olympic shooting teams, was named the Army's male athlete of the year for earning three gold...

Evander Holyfield's convincing TKO of Michael Moorer set the stage for a unification bout with Lennox Lewis

Move over Cal Ripken. A.C. Green of the Mavericks is working on two streaks: consecutive games played and temptations resisted

The U.S. clinched a trip to next year's World Cup in France, but coach Steve Sampson could be left behind

Mike Shanahan sees all hears all and seems to know all—which may explain why his Broncos are playing brilliantly

Why Jarrett thinks Gordon might choke, Petty may give Andretti a ride, Earnhardt is spread thin

The number of makes of automobile that have won Grand National/Winston Cup races since NASCAR was founded in 1948. More than 25 makes have started races, including Tuckers, Willyses, Aston...

Close finishes are the norm in NASCAR's Winston Cup series, on the track and in the point standings. The season champion has been decided in the last race 16 times since the scoring system now in...

If your fantasy is to race on an America's Cup yacht, catch a plane to St. Maarten

Matt Davison's unforgettable catch, Peyton Manning's year to remember, Villanova is whooping it up

•WASHINGTON (7-2) AT UCLA (7-2)If the Huskies are to play a second game in the Rose Bowl this season, they better hope quarterback Brock Huard's sprained left ankle heals in time for their first....

CLEMSON'S TROPHY-HUNTING LINEBACKER

For one week the Jets and Giants were atop the football world, Manning's no lock, Disappointing Desmond

1. GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWSWarren Moon, who turns 41 next week, is on pace for his fifth 4,000-yard passing season. He rallied the Seahawks from a 17-3 deficit in San Diego on Sunday, as Seattle...

Every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday during the season, in a 15th-floor room at NFL headquarters, seven officiating supervisors sit in front of 29-inch video monitors, with sophisticated VCR...

A LILLIPUTIAN REVOLUTION IS UNDER WAY IN COLLEGE HOOPS AS TEAMS WITH SMALLER, QUICKER PLAYERS RULE, LEAVING THE CLASSIC CENTERS WHO ONCE DOMINATED THE GAME FIT TO BE TIED

"The superior confidence which people repose in the tall man is well merited," wrote 6'8" John Kenneth Galbraith, the blatantly heightist American economist. "Being tall, he is more visible than...

IF YOU BELIEVE THE OFFICIAL LISTINGS, EASTERN MICHIGAN'S SENIOR POINT GUARD, EARL BOYKINS, KEEPS GETTING SMALLER AS HIS SCORING GROWS

EVERYBODY LOVES THE CINDERELLAS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT BUT NO ONE WANTS TO GIVE THEM A REGULAR-SEASON HOME GAME AND A SHOT AT HIGHER COMPUTER RANKINGS

ARIZONA'S MILES SIMON WILL TELL YOO THAT LAST SEASON WAS HELL UNTIL HE TURNED HIMSELF—AND HIS TEAM—AROUND AND WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Redskins coach Norv Turner knows how to beat the Cowboys. He's 4-3 against them, and that includes seasons when Dallas was Super Bowl caliber and Washington was young and struggling. I don't think...

For a subculture of senior golfers, a last chance at success is worth a month of manic Mondays

The Senior Tour is the sweetest nut in golf, and the toughest to crack. Should the system be changed to give more men an opportunity to play? Harry Toscano, a 55-year-old veteran of the regular...

Gil Morgan had the perfect Rx for the final act of the two-man show that was this year's Senior tour

Tiger Wows, Bows in Japan

As he stood in a muddy field neighboring one of South Africa's poorest squatter settlements on a rainy afternoon last summer, Peter Biehl first came face-to-face with the Hidden Golfers of...

What do these players have in common?

2Victories by Liselotte Neumann in three starts in Japan this year, including last week's Japan Queens Cup. She has one win in 27 other starts in '97.

•CHARITY: Go figure. In 1996 the Byron Nelson Classic had a $1.8 million purse and gave $4 million to charity. The Players Championship offered $3.5 million in prize money but donated $590,000.

Dear Tiger:You and I share the privilege of having attended Stanford and the distinction of being the only students from the university to win the NCAA golf title. Given the commonality of our...

GETTING THESE GUYS TOGETHER MORE OFTEN HELPS THE NEW TOUR SOLVE AN OLD PROBLEM

Amid sad memories, a reflective Davis Love III triumphed at the final Kapalua International