Looking back on the 1998 national championship and the players who made up those dominant Tennessee teams in the late-1990s every Friday is fun, but the rap sheets are starting to get quite disturbing. Take a look:

— Travis Henry, who has fathered nine children by nine women, was arrested on cocaine charges and apparently threatened to kill a bunch of people if he didn’t get paid;

— Dwayne Goodrich hit and killed two people who were trying to help a stranded motorist and still is in prison for criminally negligent homicide;

— Leonard Little killed a woman while driving under the influence;

— Jamal Lewis was charged with conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and spent four months in prison.

Yikes. I will never understand how Little returned to the field so quickly and Michael Vick will probably never play again. We live in a screwed-up world. Sorry nothing about this intro was funny. To the picks:

Northern Illinois (+15.5) at Tennessee: Over/under on the number of fans in attendance? I’m going with 78,000. There are gas shortages, traveling is expensive and the game is at 7 p.m. Oh, and the Vols are 1-3 and are less exciting to watch than a video of paint drying that you have to view in slow motion. Of course, some people may be intrigued by the quarterback competition in the same way people slow down to look at a car wreck.

Pick: Go with the Vols

Kentucky (+16) at Alabama: Who would ever have thought that Kentucky would get more points at Alabama than Northern Illinois would get at Tennessee? The Wildcats have played Louisville and three beauty colleges, but I still think they’ll cover for some weird reason.

Pick: Kentucky covers

Auburn (-4) at Vanderbilt: I did it. I figured out how Vandy can win the SEC East and play in Atlanta. This game is winnable. I don’t think Vandy will win (I’m having flashbacks to the 4-0 start ruined by MTSU), but it’s still very winnable. Next is a really bad Mississippi State team. Games against Georgia and Florida are probably losses, but the Commodores could definitely beat Kentucky and Tennessee. That’s 6-2. Let’s say Florida loses to LSU and Georgia. And Georgia loses to LSU and Auburn. Vandy goes to Atlanta and plays LSU in an absolutely gold Georgia Dome.

Or Vandy loses Saturday and then every SEC game after that. Either way.

Pick: Take Auburn

South Carolina (+2.5) at Ole Miss: When did Steve Spurrier go from the Ol’ Ball Coach to the Head Ball Coach? The best part of reading about Spurrier’s waffling concerning the quarterback position was that he even wrote it on his personal Web site, spurrierhbc.com. The site is covered in “HBC.” I wanted to ask him a question via the “Ask the HBC” link but you have to be “VIP.” Oh, well. If only his Web site allowed as much access as his offensive line.

Pick: Go with the Rebels

Florida (-24.5) at Arkansas: Let me tell you how many athletic directors are sad to see Arkansas get walloped every weekend. What’s that? Oh. None.

Pick: Take the Gators

Last week: 3-4

This year: 19-16-1