This Week’s Sports Illustrated: College Basketball Preview Issue – Indiana Picked to Win NCAA Title; Cody Zeller is the Nation’s Best Player

THIS WEEK IN SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

2012-13 college basketball preview: indiana picked to win ncaa title; Seth Davis proclaims cody zeller the best college basketball player in the nation; Alexander Wolff details the evolution of how college basketball is played

(NEW YORK – Nov. 7, 2012) – This is the season Indiana basketball fans have been waiting for. The talented and experienced Hoosiers begin the season ranked No. 1 in Sports Illustrated’s 2012 College Basketball Preview, on newsstands now. Cody Zeller, who may be the most important recruit to come to Indiana since Isiah Thomas, is set for a dominant sophomore season and is featured on Sports Illustrated’s regional cover. This marks the first time an Indiana Basketball player has been featured on the cover of SI since D.J. White in 2007.

The last five top-ranked preseason teams to be featured on SI’s College Basketball Preview have all at least reached the Sweet 16:

2012 – Indiana Hoosiers (TBD)

2011 – North Carolina Tar Heels (Elite 8)

2010 – Duke Blue Devils (Sweet 16)

2009 – Kansas Jayhawks (Sweet 16)

2008 – North Carolina Tar Heels (won NCAA title)

2007 – North Carolina Tar Heels (Final Four)

Indiana is one of four teams with its own cover this week, along with No. 2 Louisville, No. 3 Kansas and No. 11 Syracuse.

If you would like to download a copy of the covers, click here.

SCOUTING REPORTS

SI’s scouting reports break down every college hoops team in the Sports Illustrated Top 20. Including a Tournament Tracker where SI writers predict how far teams will go in the big dance four months early (page 54).

Sweet Sixteen

Elite Eight

Final Four

National Title Game

THE SPORTS ILLUSTRATED MEN’S TOP 20

The Big Ten is the most represented conference, with five teams in SI’s Top 20, including three teams in the top 10: No. 1 Indiana, No 6. Michigan and No. 7 Ohio State. The ACC, SEC and Big East each have three teams represented in the rankings. The Creighton Bluejays who cemented their name among mid-major powers with their 29-wins last season is No. 17 making them the highest ranked mid-major.

TO SURVIVE, YOU MUST EVOLVE – ALEXANDER WOLFF – (@AlexanderWolff)

Today’s college hoops game begins with the guard – a trend that’s been three decades in the making. Over the last 30 years, a cascade of influences has shaped distinct trends in the way college basketball is played. Alexander Wolff traced the steps of the game’s evolution and the innovators who shaped each one (page 92).

FUTURE GAME CHANGERS

Below the radar, in towns not often associated with March Madness, three players are ready to make outsized contributions that could shape their schools’ destinies – and their own (page 47).

• Nate Wolters, 6’4” Senior PG, South Dakota State
• Tony Mitchell, 6’8” Soph. PF, North Texas
• Jackie Carmichael, 6’ 9” Senior F, Illinois State

THIS WEEK’S FACES IN THE CROWD

• Jessica Hembree (Tahlequah, Okla./ Tahlequah High) – Cross-Country
• Kelvin Taylor (Belle Glade, Fla./Glades Day School)– Football
• Casey Danielson (Osceola, Wis./ Osceola High) – Golf
• Joey Dance (Christianburg, Va./ Christianburg High) – Wrestling
• Jessica Lewis (Huntsville, Ala./ Huntsville High) – Volleyball
• Silas Talbot (Anchorage/Dartmouth College) – Cross-Country
  

To submit a candidate for Faces in the Crowd, go to SI.com/faces. Follow on Twitter @SI_Faces.

-SI-