Stewart Mandel is a senior writer for SI.com, covering the national college football and basketball beats for the web site and writing the weekly 2-Minute Drill column and other features for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. Mandel's most popular features on SI.com include his College Football Blog, Mailbag, Power Rankings and NCAA tournament Bubble Watch. He has covered eight BCS national championship games and four Final Fours.

Mandel's first book, Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls: Tackling the Chaos and Controversy of College Football, hits bookstores in August. In 2005, he took first place in the Football Writers Association of America awards (column category) and in 2004, he placed third.

In June 2004, Mandel had two exclusive reports on the explosive allegations surrounding the Ohio State basketball program. He has been with SI.com (formerly CNNSI.com) since 1999. Previously he worked at ESPN the Magazine, ABC Sports Online and The Cincinnati Enquirer.

A native of Cincinnati, Mandel graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in journalism. He currently resides in New York City following a five-year stint in Atlanta.