August 31, 1998 Table Of Contents

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Golf Plus

Peak Performance Vijay Singh is sitting on top of the Tour after back-to-back victories

By Gary Van Sickle

News & Notes

By L. Jon Wertheim Edited by Kevin Cook

Pro Husband

By David Esch Edited by Kevin Cook

This Week

By Cameron Morfit

Your Cheatin' Heart Clinton's approach to golf should've tipped us off that something was amiss

By Robert Sullivan

Catching Up With...

Mark Manges, Maryland Quarterback October 4, 1976

By B.J. Schecter

Baseball

48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53... With a five-day burst, a joyous Mark McGwire got over the 50-homer hump and made the case that it was no longer if he will pass Roger Maris's record but when

By Tom Verducci

Pro Football

Off And Running Coach Jimmy Johnson hopes that rookie back John Avery will, at Last, give the dolphins the ground game they need to be championship contenders

By Austin Murphy

College Football Preview 1998

Crib Sheet Welcome, students, to College Football 101, a crash course designed to give you a jump on the upcoming season. Think of it as instant answers to all the questions you haven't had time to ask

By Ivan Maisel

Back To The Option Fearing the blitz, teams are adding the razzle-dazzle of this intricate--and venerable--offense to their repertoire

By Tim Layden

A Moving Experience UCLA quarterback Cade McNown hit the road when he was in high school, changing his football fortunes and his life

By Alan Shipnuck

The Perfect Team Some schools field top players at the same position each year. Put them together to construct the team of the 1990s

By Tim Layden

Kataclysm Andy (the Big Kat) Katzenmoyer, Ohio State's explosive linebacker, has one small season-threatening weakness: the classroom

By Austin Murphy

Scouting Reports

1 Ohio State They're loaded with talent and play most of their tough games at home. Is this the season the beleaguered Buckeyes beat Michigan and win their first title in 20 years? Yes, it is

By Ivan Maisel

2 Florida State In 26-year-old sophomore Chris Weinke, the Seminoles have the oldest starting quarterback in school history. And they still dare anyone in the nation to try to beat them

By Ivan Maisel

3 Kansas State The Wildcats became a power partly by feasting on nonconference patsies--a strategy that might come back to bite them now that they're in the national title hunt

By Tim Layden

4 Florida Lying in the weeds? In the unfamiliar position of not defending the SEC title, the Gators make a fresh run at the championship behind their vaunted defense

By Kelli Anderson

5 Nebraska A new coach and 11 new starters can mean only one thing: the start of another dynasty at Nebraska, where the names change, but everything else remains the same

By Ivan Maisel

6 UCLA Last year the Bruins blew it early--and they haven't forgotten. This time out, with a quarterback of renown, they vow to come up roses

By Alan Shipnuck

7 Arizona State The Sun Devils are absolutely giddy that this season's national title game will be played in their home stadium. Now, if they can just get themselves an invitation....

By Christian Stone

8 Michigan The '97 Wolverines were not the most star-studded team in college football when they won a national title. Now, with even fewer stars, they have to defend it

By Tim Layden

9 Tennessee The Volunteers are going to have to Tee it up without Manning, but it's the defense, not the offense, that will more likely give Tennesseans cause for concern

By Ivan Maisel

10 LSU In three years in Baton Rouge, Gerry DiNardo has restored the Tigers' dignity. That's nice, but not enough. What he really wants to do is win an SEC title

By Tim Layden

11 Syracuse With their explosive backfield, the Orangemen remain the class of the Big East. Alas, another cruel September awaits

By Lars Anderson

12 Washington The Huskies have thrown those rebuilding plans away, thanks to a lefty quarterback who hasn't left

By Lars Anderson

13 Michigan State Sedrick Irvin has always carried his load, but this year he'll run free of the shadows cast by other Big Ten backs

By John Walters

14 Penn State The Nittany Lions dream of a title, but reality says they'll need a healthy Aaron Harris to have any chance

By Lars Anderson

15 North Carolina This is what's new in Chapel Hill: the coach and 14 starters. This is what's old: coming up short against Florida State

By David Fleming

16 Missouri That rumbling noise coming out of the Show Me State is from a Tigers team hungry to prove that it's for real

By Christian Stone

17 Colorado State The Rams have reached the promised land of the power programs, but can they survive there without Moses?

By B.J. Schecter

18 West Virginia The Mountaineers, with perhaps the best running back in the nation, won't have much time to rev up. Game 1 is the test

By Dana Gelin

19 Miami Tired of looking more like chumps than champs, the Hurricanes believe this is the year they turn things around

By Lars Anderson

20 Georgia The Bulldogs are back in the SEC hunt, but uncertainty at quarterback could take the bite out of their resurgence

By Kelli Anderson

21 Texas A&M The Aggies have a revitalized quarterback, but real redemption--a Big 12 title (or more)--looks out of reach

By B.J. Schechter

22 Wake Forest After a summer in the weight room, the Deacons are ready to take on a more pressing issue: bulking up in the wins column

By David Fleming

23 Auburn The coach is trimmer and the defense as beefy as ever, but the Tigers must deal with weighty concerns on offense

By Dana Gelin

24 Kentucky It's bombs away again in Lexington, with a pass-happy coach and the nation's most prolific drop-back quarterback

By Dana Gelin

25 Notre Dame On the field and off, this once proud program continues its struggle to live up to the standards of the past

By John Walters

One To 112 Our Rankings, from Top to Bottom

Compiled by John Walters

Top 25 Lower Division Rankings

Compiled by B.J. Schecter

Inside

Inside THE WEEK IN SPORTS

Inside The NFL

Inside The NFL

By David Fleming

Inside Baseball

Inside Baseball

By Mark Bechtel And Jeff Pearlman

Wistful Thinking Francisco Cabrera made history with one at bat. Now he longs for another

By Jeff Pearlman

One For The X-Files In a season of inalienable glory, Roswell's Joe Bauman hit 72 homers

By Keith Olbermann

Class Struggle At Ohio State

By Rick Reilly

Departments

Leading Off

Letters

Scorecard

By William Nack; Kostya Kennedy Edited by Jack McCallum and Richard O'Brien

SI View The Week in TV Sports

By John Walters

Faces In The Crowd