The first 115 meetings between bitter rivals Kansas and Missouri were mostly forgettable, but this Saturday's victor will be one win from playing for the national title

By Austin Murphy

PRO FOOTBALL

The Fight for Second

While the Patriots continue to operate on a higher plane, NFL Nation is left to wonder whether a viable contender—Dallas? Green Bay? Indy?—will rise to meet them. Time is running short

By Tim Layden

The Football Clinic

Another Sunday, another precision display from the Patriots. Credit their play-calling, their execution and their sheer will

By Damon Hack

NASCAR

Bringing It Home Again

With a flawless run at Homestead, Jimmie Johnson sewed up his second straight Nextel Cup and proved that he and his Hendrick Racing team are the best of their era

By Lars Anderson

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

A Big-time Gamble

As blue-chip recruits across the country signed with schools last week, other promising players like point guard Oscar Bellfield waited to make their commitments—determined to prove how good they really are

By George Dohrmann

SI's Top 10

By Kevin Armstrong

Recruiting Notebook

By Joe Lemire

SOCCER

Orange Groove

Behind its Canadian Rastafarian midfielder, Dwayne De Rosario, the Houston Dynasty—er, Dynamo—seized its second straight MLS Cup

By Grant Wahl

Features

The Road to Bad Newz

Through his rise and fall, Michael Vick stayed loyal to a tight circle of friends—homeboys who used him and ultimately sold him out. He's not the first pro athlete to be swallowed up by his old neighborhood

By George Dohrmann