As talk intensifies about a potential LSU-Alabama or LSU-Oregon rematch in the BCS championship game, don't forget about Oklahoma. The Sooners, who are fifth in the BCS standings, would make quite a lasting impression if they knocked off an 11--0 Oklahoma State squad on the final night of the season.... Expect Arizona to make a run at Boise State's Chris Petersen for its coaching vacancy. Petersen has turned down Pac-12 suitors (Stanford and UCLA) before but is a friend of Wildcats athletic director Greg Byrne; Boise State, meanwhile, recently dismissed longtime athletic director Gene Bleymaier.... The Big East is in danger of sending an unranked champion to a BCS bowl for a second straight season. Cincinnati (7--2, 3--1 in Big East) remains in first place by half a game, despite last week's loss to West Virginia. An unranked champ would not help the conference's cause for maintaining an automatic BCS berth.
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November 21, 2011
LEADING OFF
EDITOR'S LETTER
Inside: THE WEEK IN SPORTS
The Stanford quarterback's subpar game against Oregon opened the Heisman door, but should it have?
Here are the teams and the themes to follow this weekend
Manny Pacquiao got another close win over Juan Manuel Marquez—but the loser exposed some flaws in the Filipino superstar's game
A franchise QB surrounded by young playmakers, with high draft picks aplenty awaiting: Does Cincinnati remind you of anyone?
With the weeks running down and the injuries piling up, a few guys who started the year buried on their team's depth chart have emerged as game-breakers
Only one event remains in the Chase; here's how the two men left standing in the championship race stack up
SPECIAL REPORT: SCANDAL. SHAME. A SEARCH FOR ANSWERS.
"HAD SANDUSKY NOT BEEN SO BRAZEN, HAD HE SIMPLY RESTRICTED HIMSELF TO THE FOOTBALL FACILITIES, THERE IS LITTLE TO SUGGEST HE WOULD HAVE BEEN CAUGHT. FOR SANDUSKY—IF NOT FOR THE BOYS—PENN STATE FOOTBALL WAS A SAFE HAVEN."
SI senior writer Tom Verducci, Penn State class of '82, reflects on the values that have defined, and endangered, his alma mater
Paterno's place in the record book is assured, but SI special contributor Jack McCallum says the dark final chapter ruined the story
PRO FOOTBALL
Remember the 49ers? After eight dismal years, the former glamour team has been reborn—as a band of blue-collar misfits led by an intense new coach and a roster full of NFL castoffs
PRO HOCKEY
It was once the most thrilling—and for goalies the most menacing—play in the game. But in today's high-octane NHL, there's rarely enough time or space for the ballyhooed blast from the past
TRIBUTE
PRO BASKETBALL
J.J. Barea, the breakout star of the NBA Finals, wants to get back to work. Until he does, he'll be hanging out with his girlfriend— a former Miss Universe—on the tropical island where he's a hero
HEY SIXTEEN
HAS A LOT ON HER MIND. THE YOUNGEST WINNER IN LPGA TOUR HISTORY HAS THE GAME, THE DRIVE AND THE CHARISMA TO BE THE NEXT MEGASTAR IN WOMEN'S GOLF. IF ONLY SHE COULD FIND A DATE TO THE PROM
POINT AFTER
Departments
John Gagliardi has led his players to the most wins—and fun—in NCAA history
The kidnapping of Wilson Ramos points up the dangers players face in Venezuela
A move to (almost) real time spices up the World Series of Poker
