Lineup

2017 COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREVIEW

49 Road Trip

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO THE BEST OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL

By Joan Niesen

54 Big 12

How the league can become relevant again

By Andy Staples

64 The Tackle

Rethinking one of the game's most elemental plays

By Andy Staples

70 Grad Transfers

The rule has brought NFL-style wrinkles to the FBS

By Joan Niesen

78 Sam Darnold

USC's quarterback and his surprising rise to the top

By Lee Jenkins

87 Scouting Reports

SI's Top 25, with picks for the College Football Playoff

Departments

4 SI.com

6 Inbox

10 Leading Off

16 Editors' Letter

19 Scorecard

30 Faces in the Crowd

116 Point After

Steve Rushin: The soundtrack of sports

Features

NFL

34 Game of Throws

Competing to be a team's No. 1 QB makes for some legendary stories

By Jonathan Jones

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL

40 Zion Williamson

His viral dunks have made him better known than any prep star ever

By Chris Johnson

SI HAS REGIONAL COVERS THIS WEEK: Photographs by (clockwise from top left): Kevin D. Liles; Mario Cantu/CSM/ZUMA Wire; Jamie Sabau/Getty Images; Robert Beck