I wanted to archive this post made by a self-proclaimed Tennessee booster in which he openly admits to giving football players money.

TennStud: The lady is correct; Jarrod Parris, while leaving, with a most beautibul lady from Covington, was asked by some others how many tattos did he have. He replied proudly "none", I'm not a thug. I gave him a $100 bill, as I have most every other Div 1 athlete who's at my home and I'm told doesn't have a tatoo. Mr. Williams, Dan's father, was here tonight and when someone queatined whether his son didn't have a tatoo, Mr. Williams, who's a USPO employee, said "that's right. His Mom told him he'd better not ever get a tatoo and I'm proud to say, he doesn't". Scores of lawyers, judges, business people were around and several said "that's great; if he doesn't make it in the NFL, make sure he calls me." I've given approx $1,000 in 100 bills lately, several to UT, for first rate, first class, individuals, who don't have tattos. Not all individuals with tattos are thugs, but ALL criminals, thugs, have tatoos! Not all mothers are as influential, as close to their son, influential with their son, as evidently, Mrs. Williams is with Dan! God Bless Mrs. and Mr. Williams.

Ring ring ring! Hello, NCAA? I'd like to report a violation please. Which team? Oh, Tennessee. Yes, the Tennessee Vols. In the SEC. Oh, it'll be a while until you can get to them? Ok. I saw a Washington player find a quarter on the ground and pick it up after somebody wearing Husky gear dropped it. Right, in the PAC-10. Probation? Announced tomorrow? Great!

I'll admit it. I lost a few bills by betting on Tennessee -7 this game. UCLA was supposed to lose, but they didn't. Bad for my bank account, bad for the SEC, good for the PAC-10.

Do the Bruins not suck as much as everybody thought? Or did Tennessee just play that bad? We'll find out in a couple weeks when the Bruins play BYU. If they're the UCLA that I know, they'll come back from an amazing win over a top-25 opponent and piss away any credibility gained by losing to a lesser team. Until then, when it comes to UCLA my wallet is staying in my pocket.

The first games of the college football season are only a week away, and based on my experience the first couple weeks make for the best opportunities to make some money at the sportsbooks since college football in general is relatively unpredictable and nobody really knows how good or bad teams will be. Here are what my picks are going to be for a select few games going into the first week:

Tennessee -7 @ UCLA - September 1, 2008
Is there anybody here who doesn't hail from LA that thinks this game will be close? UCLA's offensive line is razor thin with crazy numbers of injuries in the offseason. They're starting a guy who would have been their 3rd string JC transfer at quarterback after their #1 and #2 quarterbacks were injured on successive plays. Some people may point out their all-star coaching staff of Rick Neuheisel and Norm Chow, but seriously, great coaches still need to have a quarterback and offensive line to coach! Defense will be solid, but not enough to send Tennessee into fits.
TCQB says: Tennessee 31, UCLA 9

This past week the US News released its 2009 list of "America's Best Colleges." With three schools ranked in the top 25 in the nation (Stanford #4, California #21 and UCLA at #25), the PAC-10 wins the CouchQB honor of being the smartest football conference in America.

Now lets focus our attention on the dumbest. The number of schools considered "Tier-1" by US News stops at 130, and with a #130 ranking LSU barely makes being "tier 1" by the hairs on its chinny chin chin. Arkansas comes in at #125, and South Carolina and Tennessee both tie at #108.

That's four teams in the bottom 25 for the SEC, more than any other football conference. SEC wins the CouchQB award for being the dumbest football conference in America.