LINEUP

DEPARTMENTS

4 SI Digital

9 Leading Off

18 The Mail

21 Scorecard

Superman's caper

28 Faces in the Crowd

30 Just My Type

Troy Polamalu, actor

BY DAN PATRICK

122 Point After

Back from London, back to reality

BY PHIL TAYLOR

FEATURES

32 THE LONDON GAMES

Athletes and fans are closer than ever in the social-media age, and Olympic popularity is trending up

BY ALEXANDER WOLFF

PRO FOOTBALL

40 INSTAGRAM CAMP

A report from the long, winding preseason road through the lens of SI's NFL expert

BY PETER KING

BASEBALL

44 TEAMMATES FOREVER

Johnathan Taylor is paralyzed, Zach Cone is a minor leaguer—but they are still fellow travelers

BY L. JON WERTHEIM

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

52 SABANIZATION NATION

Nick Saban has two titles at 'Bama—and legions of imitators

BY ANDY STAPLES

61 HEISMAN WATCH

Meet the candidates: seven front-runners in Campaign 2012

BY CORY MCCARTNEY

69 MATT BARKLEY

The charmed life of USC's white-knight quarterback

BY LEE JENKINS

77 SEASONAL SPECIALS

The menu for 2012: juicy matchups, the choicest conferences, drinks with a kick

84 SCOUTING REPORTS

Breaking down SI's Top 25: key recruits, breakout stars and other vital analysis

SI HAS FIVE COVERS THIS WEEK

TO SEE THE FULL-SCREEN VERSION OF EACH COVER, DOWNLOAD THE SI TABLET APP, FREE TO ALL SUBSCRIBERS

ON THE COVER: PHOTOGRAPH BY DAMIAN STROHMEYER (ALABAMA); PETER READ MILLER (USC); MATTHEW EMMONS/US PRESSWIRE (OKLAHOMA); ANDREW WEBER/US PRESSWIRE (WEST VIRGINIA); LON HORWEDEL/ICON SMI (MICHIGAN)

PHOTO

STEVE DYKES/GETTY IMAGES

OREGON TRAILERS Running back Kenjon Barner helps make the Ducks a national power, but they won't catch USC in the Pac-12.

FIVE PHOTOS