Lineup

Author:
SI Staff

COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEW

54 Between Friends
Longtime pals O.J. Mayo and Kevin Love have created an instant rivalry in L.A.
by Grant Wahl

63 Best of Enemies
Seven hoops feuds fueled by poaching coaches, buzzer-beaters and bad blood
by Luke Winn

70 A Pillar of Strength
How Essence Carson emerged as the voice of embattled Rutgers. Plus the women's Top 10
by Kelli Anderson

76 5 Minute Guide
A fast-break run through the top players, story lines and new faces
by Seth Davis

78 Scouting Reports
The men's Top 20, along with the rest of the 65-team NCAA tournament field

FEATURES

PRO FOOTBALL

36 Breaking Away
The Cowboys overpowered the Giants to take control of the NFC East. Looming ahead: a showdown with the Packers
By Damon Hack

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

44 Bowl Chaos Season
Illinois's upset of No. 1 Ohio State shook up an already tumultuous national title race. Who's in the best shape to win it all?
By Austin Murphy

PRO BASKETBALL

50 Waiting for Kobe?
His arrival would create problems. But if the Bulls don't start winning soon, they may have to trade for Kobe Bryant
By Jack McCallum

Departments

8 Leading Off

16 Letters

21 Players
• Welcome to the Charlie Weis error
• First Person: Shalrie Joseph
• Remembering Dick Nolan
• Norman Mailer's love of boxing

35 Faces in the Crowd

132 Life of Reilly
A Buckeye's life—and another one far from it by Rick Reilly

Inside...

122 NASCAR
• The Chase is over

124 College Football
• The nation's leading rusher is...

125 High School Football
• A Polynesian influence in Utah

128 The NFL
• Will Reggie Bush ever be a star?

130 The NHL
• Ottawa picks up where it left off

Cover
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBERT BECK (LOVE, MAYO), MICHAEL J. LEBRECHT II/IDEUCE3 PHOTOGRAPHY (LOFTON, DOUGLAS-ROBERTS, PRUITT, WHITE), DARREN CARROLL (JONES, AUGUSTIN), SIMON BRUTY (HIBBERT, DEVENDORF); BACKGROUND BY BOB ROSATO; COMPOSITE BY SI IMAGING

INSET PHOTO: Brad Mangin (Montgomery)

For reprints of SI covers visit www.SIcovers.com.

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My Sportsman

SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR: WHO'S YOUR CHOICE?

Next month SPORTS ILLUSTRATED will announce its 2007 Sportsman of the Year. There's no shortage of worthy candidates, which is why, for the fourth consecutive year, SI writers have contributed a series of essays on who they think deserves the magazine's highest honor. Over the next three weeks some 40 My Sportsman essays will appear at SI.com—from Damon Hack on Tony Dungy to Michael Farber on Sidney Crosby to Tom Verducci on David Ortiz. Read all of the essays, and let us know who you think deserves this year's award.

MY SPORTSMAN SERIES BEGINS THIS WEEK AT SI.COM/SPORTSMAN.

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