I started thinking a little bit tonight about which players to keep an eye on as the season gets going and I consider how to vote in the Heisman hunt. It occurred to me how several of them are on Auburn's schedule this year. Although there might have been even more last year, with Tebow, McFadden and Percy Harvin all coming to mind. I think Harvin is a strong darkhorse for the award this year.

All three of the guys I included on my ballot were underclassmen (Tebow-McFadden-Daniel), as was the last guy I left off, West Virginia's Pat White. I waited until the final night to let White usurp Daniel for third. But frankly they both had so-so nights at best, with White's team losing to lowly Pitt and Daniel's team getting blown out by Oklahoma. So Daniel got a vote from me.

Anyway, you've got a handful of guys who very well may get some serious Heisman attention who will go up against the Tigers this year:
* Tennessee: Arian Foster (and Phil Steele included QB Jonathan Crompton on his list of darkhorses, although I'm not so sure about that)
* Arkansas: Casey Dick (just kidding. although I'm betting he'll be better at running Petrino's offense this year than many folks expect)
* West Virginia: White and Noel Devine
* Georgia: Knowshon Moreno and Matthew Stafford (I think Knowshon makes it to New York if he remains healthy

I didn't include Ole Miss QB Jevan Snead on there because that's probably a stretch, but I think he's going to cause a stir in the league this year. I've watched him play a little bit and think he's going to be a star.

It's hard to say Tebow's not the favorite going into the season, but I'll bet right now that he won't win it. Not because he won't play well enough to deserve it, but because A) I think the Gators will spread it around more this year and he won't put up numbers that are quite as eye-popping and B) more importantly, I expect the voters to be awfully fickle and overly critical to justify not giving him the award again. We'll see though.

Right now, I guess my top five would be:
1. Tim Tebow, Florida
2. Chris Wells, Ohio State
3. Chase Daniel, Missouri
4. Pat White, West Virginia
5. Knowshon Moreno, Georgia

It's awfully early to be making predictions, but it's kind of fun to consider all the possibilities. I have about 20 guys on my list that I could see winning it right now.