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The UA System Board of Trustees will hear a resolution Friday for the establishment of the Victor Ellis Endowed Scholarship Fund in honor of the late Crimson Tide linebacker.

One source of the scholarship? Ellis himself.

Through his last will and testament, Ellis contributed $33,589.99 to "provide scholarships for worthy, non-athlete students at the University of Alabama," according to the resolution set to go before trustees.

Ellis died of cancer on March 25, 2008. He was 28.

The money was the remaining balance of the fund established by friend and former teammate Ahmaad Galloway through Bryant Bank in Birmingham to help raise money for Ellis' medical care during his illness. In addition, friends and family have contributed $14,731.73 to UA in his memory.

Per conditions of the scholarship recommended by UA President Robert Witt, "Priority of consideration shall be given to students enrolled at UA who are not participating in intercollegiate athletics."

A native of Chattanooga, Tenn., Ellis played for the Crimson Tide from 1998-01, totaling 145 tackles in 40 games while wearing the No. 9 jersey. He was named permanent team captain for the 2001 season.

After graduating in 2002 with a communications degree, Ellis later worked as a regional recruiter in Charlotte, N.C., for UA's admissions office.

Fact #4: Vacating victories is one of the gayest penalties ever created. By definition, a vacated win is a game we won that we no longer get to take credit for, but the team we beat still has to record the loss in their record books. A forfeiture means we give up the win and the other team gets it. But here’s the deal. If you and I are standing in a parking lot, and I beat your a** in front of everybody watching, even if I’m made to come back later and apologize to you, everyone who saw it still knows I beat your a**. While this penalty is a little annoying, big crapping deal.

(Sorry Tennessee, the 41-17 flogging we put on you in 2007 still counts).

Fact #7: The reason everybody cheats is because the rules are impossible to keep in totality. I liken the NCAA bylaws to Jewish law in the Old Testament. With thousands of these man made laws on the books, it was impossible to keep them all. So God (who only gave us ten to keep, by the way) saw that we were too stupid to do even that, and sent His Son to be the sacrifice for our sins once and for all. That’s a big deal, and outside of this article, the only real big deal there is in life. But you get my point.

There is no way you can completely regulate a wealthy booster who lives in another state. Or an athlete who looks for a loophole with a textbook. NCAA, you’ve done things like doing away with athletic dorms which made it easier to monitor players because you said it was unfair to schools who couldn’t afford them, then you have the audacity to turn around and hammer us for not monitoring our players.

I feel like I’m in an argument with my wife here.

Fact #8: ...I’m getting pretty sick of us cooperating and then getting punished anyway. Reggie Bush was living in a beach house worth over $750,000 while at USC, and USC has basically said “Y’all come prove it.” What’s happened? Nothing. You’re sending a message, NCAA. If the real issue is deter speeding, sometimes an officer who shows grace and issues a warning does more good than an officer who goes ahead and writes you the ticket.

A congressman said he plans to investigate testimony from Alamo Bowl executive director Derrick Fox at this month’s Bowl Championship Series subcommittee hearing after learning that Fox might have exaggerated by millions of dollars the amount bowl games donate to local charities.

Fox, while representing all 34 bowl games during his appearance on Capitol Hill on May 1, claimed in his argument against a playoff that “almost all the postseason bowl games are put on by charitable groups” and “local charities receive tens of millions of dollars every year.”

In fact, 10 bowl games are privately owned and one is run by a branch of a local government. The remaining 23 games enjoy tax-exempt status from the Internal Revenue Service, but combined to give just $3.2 million to local charities on $186.3 million in revenue according to their most recent federal tax records and interviews with individual bowl executives.

“That doesn’t seem like something that’s really geared toward giving to charity, does it?” said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) after being presented with Yahoo! Sports’ findings.

“It’s perjury if it’s knowingly said,” Barton said of the sworn testimony, which he called “misleading.” “It’s also contempt of Congress. You’ve got to give [him] some sort of due process, but ultimately the remedy is to hold [him] in contempt of Congress on the House floor or send it to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution of perjury under oath.”

Together, Fox and Swofford repeatedly cited two main reasons bowl games must be saved at all costs.

1. Donations to local charities.

2. Economic impact on host cities.

The NCAA has no role in the BCS and does not recognize a champion in football’s top division, the only collegiate sport without a playoff. By bolstering the value of bowls through charitable giving and local economic impact, a playoff that potentially forces the closing of a few minor bowls seems like a potential negative.

Some playoffs plans, including one produced by the NCAA, concluded they could produce so much revenue that even a lesser percentage share would result in more actual dollars for the six major conferences. However, it likely would require ceding power to the NCAA’s central office, which presumably would run a playoff.

When it was crunch time, Alabama coach Nick Saban pulled out the Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer and pounded his way to his second consecutive Rivals.com recruiting national championship.

The Crimson Tide were crowned the nation's best again after finishing with a remarkable run in Saban's third recruiting class in Tuscaloosa. The Tide closed with running back Eddie Lacy, offensive lineman Brandon Moore, linebacker Tana Patrick and wide receivers Kenny Bell and Kendall Kelly on Wednesday.

Alabama secured the title when five-star running back Trent Richardson signed his letter of intent with the Crimson Tide late Wednesday afternoon.

The Tide finished just ahead of LSU, USC, Ohio State and Texas. The rest of the top 10 consisted of Florida State at No. 6, Michigan at No. 7, North Carolina at No. 8, Georgia at No. 9 and Florida at No. 10.

There are several uncommitted players who could cause some shifts in the top 10, but nobody has enough left on the board to knock the Tide from the top.

Though the late flurry was enough to push Alabama to the No. 1 spot, it was the Tide's early commitments that laid the foundation.

When he committed Nov. 11, 2007, nobody imagined how important D.J. Fluker would be. Nobody knew Fluker was going to eventually rank as the No. 1 offensive tackle and the No. 3 player overall in the nation.

"I love the school and everything they bring to the table," Fluker said shortly after committing. "It's a great situation for me from a player standpoint because I love the way the coaches teach and communicate with their players. I know they can help me become a better player and they are building something special. I feel very comfortable around the coaching staff and players."

April and May were good months for the Tide. That's when commitments came in from three-star lineman Kellen Williams, Darius McKeller and Chance Warmack. Alabama also added four-star quarterback AJ McCarron, who had strong showings at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl and the EA Sports Elite 11.

"Last year, when they pulled in the nation's No. 1, class it made a huge impression on me," McCarron said when he committed. "All the top players in the state wanted to play for Alabama, and that made me and the other top juniors take notice. Coach Saban does a great job recruiting."

The hot streak continued in June and July when the Tide received commitments from seven players, including four-star prospects Rod Woodson, William Ming and Quinton Dial.

During the season, the Tide added commitments from five-star linebacker Nico Johnson, four-star receiver Michael Bowman, four-star defensive tackle Darrington Sentimore, four-star offensive lineman James Carpenter and three-star defensive tackle Chris Bonds. Then, after their appearance in the SEC Championship Game, three-star linebacker Jonathan Atchison and four-star receiver Kevin Norwood jumped aboard.

Those recruits helped set the table for the Tide to make their run in the days leading up to National Signing Day.

The Tide were able to sign three-star linebacker Petey Smith and four-star defensive end Ed Stinson out of Florida, and the floodgates opened Wednesday when Alabama reeled in Lacy, Moore, Patrick, Bell and Kelly.