It’s been an intense couple of days for the ladies appearing in the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The announcement surrounding who’d be featured came this past Friday, then Letterman had the ladies on The Late Show to do his Top Ten list. From there, they waited anxiously to find out who would be on the cover. Who would’ve thought wearing a bathing suit could be so stressful? Well, you wouldn’t know it by looking at these sexy SIrens as they arrive at the Ed Sullivan Theater yesterday for the taping of last night’s episode.

We’re officially one step closer to knowing which stunning swimsuit model will own the cover of the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Friday night, SI unveiled the 17 featured models that will fill the pages of the overly-anticipated issue set to hit stands Tuesday, February 15th. There were a few surprises, most notably the absence of COED fave Daniella Sarahyba. But with returning veterans like Brooklyn Decker, Irina Shayk and Julie Henderson, alongside some of 2010′s hottest rookies and this year’s batch of newbies, 2011 is shaping up to be the sexiest edition yet.

There has been speculation over the last few days about Dan Patricks departure from ESPN. An anonymous ESPN source told CO-ED late last night that Patrick is all but gone and the departure was not mutually agreed upon as it will be played off as in the news when the story breaks. This will come off as a big loss to Sports Center enthusiasts but Patrick has had numer… Click to read more