Week Ahead

What to watch and watch for

SUNDAY 9/2
Kirk Herbstreit Ohio vs. USA Challenge: No. 3 St. Xavier vs. No. 4 DeMatha
The three-day high school football bonanza includes 11 games, each featuring one team from the Buckeye State. The best game will be at the University of Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium, where hometown St. Xavier will see if running back Darius Ashley (left), one of the top uncommitted players in the country, is over the sprained ankle that limited him to two carries in the Bombers' season opener last Friday. DeMatha, of Hyattsville, Md., was undefeated last year and is led by QB Tom Chroniger.
ESPN noon

IAAF World Championships
The U.S. has never won a gold in the 1,500 meters at the worlds, but it'll have two real threats in Osaka, Japan. Alan Webb (SI, Aug. 27) has the world's best time in the mile in 2007, and veteran Bernard Lagat is the defending Olympic silver medalist in the 1,500.
NBC 1 p.m.

IndyCar: The Raceway at Belle Isle
With two races left in the season, it's a two-man race for the IndyCar title. Scott Dixon (right) has a minuscule four-point lead on Dario Franchitti. The smart money's on Dixon in the streets of Detroit. The 2003 champ has won three of the four IndyCar road races this season.
ABC 3:30 p.m.

WEDNESDAY 9/5
WNBA Finals
It's shaping up to be a tight postseason. Of the four first-round playoff series, only the Phoenix-Seattle matchup didn't go the distance. In a sweep of the Storm, guard Cappie Pondexter averaged 23 points and five assists for the Mercury, which is one of only two original WNBA franchises still in the league that have not won a championship. This could be the year: At 23--11, Phoenix had the best record in the Western Conference.
ESPN2 10 p.m.

Drum Corps International
The complex 100-person formations, the rhythms of the drum line, the colorful flags waving in the wind, the marching-band performances—it's one big human screen saver. A dozen teams made up of high school and college students descend on the Rose Bowl to see who has the best moves.
ESPN2 10 p.m.

SI PICK OF THE WEEK

MONDAY 9/3
Florida State at Clemson
Call it Bowden Bowl IX. Bobby Bowden, coach of the No. 19 Seminoles, has beaten his oldest son, Tigers coach Tommy, in five of their eight meetings. To do it again, he'll need his new-look offense to click. The Seminoles have a new starting quarterback, Drew Weatherford, who beat out fellow junior Xavier Lee for the job. And there's a new offensive coordinator: coveted LSU assistant Jimbo Fisher, who took over the job after Bobby's oft-criticized son Jeff resigned following a 7--6 season in which FSU suffered its first home shutout in Bowden's 31 years in Tallahassee.
ESPN 8 p.m.

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ST. XAVIER HIGH SCHOOL (DARIUS ASHLEY)

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JIM ROGASH/WIREIMAGE.COM (TOMMY BOWDEN)

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CHRIS ODOM/WIREIMAGE.COM (BOBBY BOWDEN)

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©2007 DRUM CORPS INTERNATIONAL (TRUMPETER)

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DAVID DUPREY/AP (SCOTT DIXON)