Jinx Statisticians and fatalists know that everybody has to lose some time--but why does it happen so often for a team the week after it's touted on the cover of SI?

OKLAHOMA (1957)
Said goodbye to a record 47-game winning streak the following
Saturday.

TEXAS (1970)
Longhorns fumbled 9 times in next game; ended their 30-game
winning streak.

ALABAMA (1973)
The Tide was 11-0 going into the Sugar Bowl but lost to the
Irish.

ANDY NORTH (1978)
Won his first tournament, the U.S. Open; didn't win another PGA
event until '85.

BILL RODGERS (1978)
He won 7 straight marathons, then finished 6th in first race
after this cover.

DALE MURPHY (1982)
Postcover, Braves star outfielder went 6 for 31 while team lost
14 of 15.

MIAMI DOLPHINS (1984)
An 11-0 record was tarnished by a loss to the Chargers the
following Sunday.

BARRY BONDS (1993)
His batting average dropped 40 points in two weeks following
cover.

BRUNELL & COLLINS (1997)
Both of these "hot" QBs lost in the playoffs a week later.

OREGON (2003)
After upsetting Michigan, the Ducks were 4-0, ranked 10th. Lost
next 3 games.

tragedy

The so-called SI jinx is just a confluence of probability and
superstition, but there have been a few chilling coincidences
over the years

JILL KINMONT (1955)
Paralyzed in a skiing accident the week her cover was on the
stands. Where the jinx began?

PAT O'CONNOR (1958)
Featured in our Indy 500 Preview; he was killed in a 15-car
pileup on the race's first lap.

LAURENCE OWEN (1961)
The U.S. skating team perished in a plane crash two days after
this cover date.

RICARDO RODRIGUEZ (1962)
Dies in a fiery crash eight months after SI calls him MEXICO'S
YOUNG FIREBALL.

JOHNNY PODRES (1956)
A hasty Sportsman sub after Bill Woodward Jr. was accidentally
killed by his wife.

FIFTEEN COLOR PHOTOS