It's Friday which means it's time for the Mailbag. 

Congrats, you can pretend to work while reading in advance of the Memorial Day weekend.  

Our beaver pelt trader of the week is Kevin Durant. He's included in a mailbag question as well, but his decision to donate a million dollars to the tornado victims is worthy of the award. 

And much more. 

Okay, let's dive into the mailbag.

via OKTC courtroom reporter Peter Matthews III

Bama teabagger Brian Downing, whose trial was set to begin this morning, has reached a plea bargain, agreeing to plead guilty to lesser charges. Downing pleads guilty to one count of obscenity, one count of amended obscenity (reduced from a sexual battery charge) and now faces two years in prison served concurrently on both obscenity charges. Downing will be sentenced in 45 days, but Matthews reports that the setencing is a formality and that Downing will definitely be sent to jail for two years. (Presumably Downing could be released from prison early with good behavior, but I'm not sure what the reduction in time might look like).

Downing, who teabagged a passed out LSU fan in the Bourbon Street Krystal's in the wake of Alabama's BCS title game victory over LSU, faced ten years in prison if he was convicted of the sexual battery charge. So he's decided not to try his luck in front of a New Orleans jury.

Yesterday Downing's attorney said his client's defense would be that the was drunk and stupid. That defense wasn't likely to play well considering the lead prosecutor is a diehard LSU fan.

We'll have more from our reporter Peter Matthews III as this story develops, but in the meantime, wow on the prison time.

As we enter October there are now six undefeated SEC teams remaining, five of them in the top ten. It's a sign of how dominant the SEC is that having half of the top ten teams in the country, and four of the top six, is just expected at this point. No one in the rest of the nation even blinks.

By late on Saturday night there's a good chance that there will be four undefeated SEC teams.  number will stand at four, as the two biggest games of the college football weekend are both in the SEC.

In fact, we've got a hell of a doubleheader on tap, LSU at Florida at 2:30 ct on CBS followed by Georgia at South Carolina at night on ESPN. That's a hell of an SEC tandem, the two biggest games of the day.

I'm giving you my picks early on this game, I'm taking Florida and South Carolina.

Now let's dive into the Starting 11:

It's Friday which means it's mailbag time.

Our beaver pelt trader of the week is the LSU fan who did this paint job. In particular, look at the way that ball cap perches right on the edge of Les Miles' head. This is some Michelangelo quality work by a corndog artist. 

Where was this picture taken? 

According to emailer Will, "Saw this outside a Shreveport casino at 10:30 this morning. LSU fans start early."

Yes, LSU fans are rolling up to Shreveport casinos at 10:30 am on Thursday morning to start partying for the Towson game weekend. 

No one who knows LSU fans is the least bit surprised by this. 

On to the mailbag: 

Nathan writes:

"Seriously, the fact that they felt they needed to make this video makes it amazing. Can they join the SEC?"

Long winded break downs about tactical advantages are boring.  If I don’t want to read them myself, you don't either.  Gambling info distilled to its essence with eveything you need to know before you walk to the window for Week 5.

Today word officially came down that Jim Rome's new CBS Sports Radio show will air from 12-3 eastern on the new CBS Sports Radio Network. Prior to this announcement word had also been released that Doug Gottlieb's show will air from 3-6 eastern. Cumulus, the nation's second largest radio company, has also signed on to provide most of the distribution for the new CBS Sports radio network.

Indeed, in the press release announcing Rome's new show, the following language is added at the bottom, "Cumulus Media Networks serves as the exclusive syndicator and sales partner for CBS Sports Radio."

The big question hanging out here is this, how will CBS and Cumulus distribute Jim Rome and Doug Gottlieb's shows when distributing them on sports stations that people actually listen to would require the displacement of much more successful shows?

This is a big issue that impacts tens of millions of sports talk radio listeners.

The easy answer is this -- not many people will be listening to Rome and Gottlieb.

Let me explain why.

Occasionally Vinnie Verno makes a prediction that's so laughably off that I have to call him out here.

Such is the case this week. Picking Arkansas +13.5 over Texas A&M is the dumbest prediction in Vinnie's illustrious gambling history. I mean, has he actually watched Arkansas this year? And has he seen the amount of points that Arkansas's defense has been giving up? If A&M scores less than 40 points, I'll be shocked.

This is going to be an A&M bloodbath.

Seriously.

On to Vinnie's picks.

It’s time for Vegas to issue September report cards. Alabama’s rise to prominence shouldn’t surprise any of us nor should Arkansas’ fall from grace (although anyone who saw outright losses to ULM and Rutgers before the year is lying). There are plenty of questions that need answering but there's no better way to gauge early season progress than by comparing current form to each team's preseason win total.

By: Jeff “SQUIRREL” Tew  

On October 30, 1977 I was born in Dothan, Alabama to a family who had bled Alabama Crimson since the football teams’ inception in 1892. Growing up, all I knew was Alabama football.

By Jacob Cooper

The prevailing sentiment around the country is that Razorback fans are willing to do anything to get Bobby Petrino back. With each game that interim head coach John L. Smith lets slip away, the chorus grows louder.

By Chris Haddock

Thirty-nine years ago a woman went into labor on her 25th Birthday. Eighteen hours later on the following morning she delivered her first child. She spent the next two and a half decades raising this son. She was a Bama fan.