Trojan guard OJ Mayo appears–along with cross-town rival Kevin Love–on the regional cover of this week’s college basketball preview issue of Sports Illustrated. An article inside the magazine talks about the friendship between the two freshmen, and profiles Mayo, who tells SI that, “I try to make basketball like a chess game.”

SI may now have second thoughts about ranking the Trojans at #15 to start the season, however.

A Fight Between Friends (Sports Illustrated)