Lineup

COLLEGE FOOTBALLPREVIEW 2008

46 Can't Beat theSpread
The hottest offense thrives on speed, stretching the defense across the fieldand exploiting mismatches all over. It's near unstoppable, and more and morecoaches are converting
By Austin Murphy

62 Wrestling withthe Beast
Defensive coordinators are comparing notes as they scramble to find ways tostop—or at least slow—the spread, but this much they know: The best weapons arespeed and solid tackling
By Phil Taylor

68 ScoutingReports
Georgia bids to become the third straight SEC team to win the nationalchampionship. In fact, the SEC and the Big 12 dominate the rankings

100 ConferenceRoundups
Projected finishes and players to watch in the SEC, Big 12, Pac-10, Big Ten,Big East, ACC and the rest

110 Five-MinuteGuide
The complete rankings (1 to 119), bowl predictions, Heisman hopefuls and SI'sAll-America team

FEATURES

BASEBALL

30 Second toNone
In this golden year of the second baseman, none of them has been moreproductive than Texas's Ian Kinsler
By Albert Chen

PRO FOOTBALL

36 Hot Tub, HotSeat
After two wayward seasons, Cardinals quarterback Matt Leinart says he has hispriorities straight
By Jim Trotter

OLYMPICBASEBALL

42 Davey's GoldRush
Once hard-living manager Davey Johnson tries to lift the underdog U.S.
By Luke Winn

Departments

6 Leading Off

14 Letters

16 Players
• Manny goes Hollywood
• Big Brown overshadowed
• First Person: Lauryn Williams
• Documentary: Ali's Miami days

26 Faces in theCrowd

28 Just My Type byDan Patrick
• The Bears' big babysitter

120 Point After
Brett Favre runs a confounding reverse by Chris Ballard

Inside...

114 Baseball
• The next move for big names

116 NASCAR
• Carl Edwards comes of age

118 FantasyFootball
• Reading between the O-lines

119 Golf
• Another wrong turn for Lefty

BONUS GATEFOLD,PAGE 55

FIVE PHOTOS

GOT IT COVERED For the college football preview issue SI has printed five regional covers.

PHOTO