USC’s dominating victory over Nebraska on Saturday was enough to land the Trojans on the cover of the September 24 issue of Sports Illustrated. The associated article, in addition to focusing on tailback Stafon Johnson and the resurgent Trojan ground game, dives into this season’s running storyline: namely, which conference is superior, the Pac-10 or the SEC? Naturally, the article’s author (Austin Murphy) lands on the side of the SEC, primarily because the conference landed six teams in this week’s AP poll (to the Pac-10’s three). UCLA’s inept performance in Salt Lake City last Saturday probably hurt matters as well.

Ground Rule (Sports Illustrated)