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November 14, 2011 Table Of Contents
LEADING OFF
Inside: THE WEEK IN SPORTS
The Raiders will need patience with QB Carson Palmer, but that won't help their AFC West chances
By Jim Trotter
By Peter King
Forget the waiver wire. If you want to bolster your roster down the stretch, think trade, and this week's wish list is a virtual geography lesson, complete with Rivers and Bushes
By David Sabino
The marriage between the alternately fascinating and maddening Denard (Shoelace) Robinson and a pro-style scheme has been an imperfect union
By Lee Jenkins
A surprising Breeders' Cup Classic brought no clarity to the Horse of the Year race
By Mark Beech
LSU-ALABAMA
An instant classic it was not. But after LSU and Alabama played more than 60 minutes of tense, hard-hitting football, the national championship picture had not changed: The top-ranked Tigers remain the team to beat
Here are the teams and the themes to follow this weekend
PRO FOOTBALL
As the sidelined Peyton Manning looks on in dismay, the winless Colts are enduring a disastrous season that could put them in position to draft ... his successor. A team and a town are conflicted.
By Damon Hack
COLLEGE BASKETBALL PREVIEW
For a sport awash in stats, accurate measurements of defensive prowess are hard to come by. So SI did its own possession-by-possession study of five title contenders, graded every player and every play—and came to some surprising conclusions
By Luke Winn
Notre Dame began wooing point guard Skylar Diggins when she was 14. After a bitter loss in last April's Final Four, the South Bend native has one childhood memory she's determined to re-create: a victory parade
LED BY THE NATION'S BEST PLAYER, BAYLOR WILL WIN ITS FIRST TITLE IN SEVEN SEASONS
Stocked with NBA-caliber talent at every position, it's national championship or bust in Chapel Hill
By Luke Winn
Will this latest class of blue-chip recruits finally bring coach John Calipari his first NCAA title?
Their big man has rounded out his NBA lottery--worthy game, which means no early exit this year
Thanks to an emerging star at the point, Connecticut won't have to pass up the chance to defend its crown
By Matt Gagne
The talent is still developing, sure, but there's more than enough to bring another title back to Durham
With more speed than size this year, Billy Donovan is returning to a style of play that should look familiar
By Andy Staples
Will the bitter memory of a last-second loss help propel Pitt to the season's final weekend?
Coach Jim Boeheim has given his senior point guard the green light, and he'll make the team go
By Seth Davis
With its big three, can Vandy finally shed its underdog role and make a deep tournament run?
By Bill Trocchi
After watching another Big East team take the title last year, these Cards will make a run of their own
By Ryan Hatch
Josh Pastner has given his program an NBA feel—perfect for taking the Tigers to the next level
Even with the thinnest roster in years, an eighth straight regular-season championship is in reach
A lineup full of new faces will be taking cues from the nation's most sure-handed point guard
By Matt Gagne
A formidable front line will make sure coach Scott Drew's team doesn't come up short
By Seth Davis
No true home court? No problem, thanks to a forward who has embraced the SoCal lifestyle
By Ryan Hatch
Chris Mack's team may have found the x factor needed to slay a few more giants this season
By Dan Greene
The tournament drought is over, and going deep into March should be the new norm for a rising program
A departed superstar will be replaced by committee—in a mediocre conference, that's more than enough
By Dan Greene
Last year a star emerged from nowhere; now a blue-chip recruit needs to finally find his game
Can Tuscaloosa be more than just a football town? This hungry team aims to find out
SI PICKS THE 48 TEAMS THAT WILL JOIN THE TOP 20 IN THE BIG DANCE NEXT MARCH
By Bill Trocchi
DEWAYNE DEDMON
DEWAYNE DEDMON'S LEAP OF FAITH
Discouraged for religious reasons from playing basketball, a young Jehovah's Witness who would soon be 7 feet tall had to decide whether to follow his mother's ardent beliefs or his own heart
POINT AFTER
By Phil Taylor
Departments
Magic Johnson's HIV announcement 20 years ago changed the discussion
Just a Little Later for Slater
Cleveland's rage at LeBron James finds voice in an angry and acidic broadside
By Ben Reiter
Frank McCourt's agreement to sell his team ends Dodger blues
By Lee Jenkins
Edited by Alexandra Fenwick
By Dan Patrick
