Here’s a few peanuts to munch on for those of you just passing through:

* Teams with the most Heismans: Notre Dame (7), Ohio St. (6), USC (6), Oklahoma (4), Nebraska (3), Michigan (3), Army (3).

* Only twice (1936-37 with Yale and 1945-46 with Army) has a team won back-to-back Heismans with different players. In 1975, Ohio State’s Archie Griffin became the only two-time winner.

* Notre Dame in 1947 and 1949 and USC in 1979 and 1981 (and again in 2002 and 2004) are the only two schools to win the trophy two out of three years (with a year in between).

* In a testament to the changes that college football has undergone, running backs have won only six of the last 21 Heismans. This came just after running backs won 11 in a row from 1973-1983.

* Running backs have won the Heisman 38 times, quarterbacks have won it 24 times, receivers/ends have won it 5 times, fullbacks have won it 2 times and a cornerback has won it once.

* Of the last 26 Heisman winners, 3 were from the SEC, 4 from the Pac-10, 6 were from the Big 12, 4 were from the Big 10, 6 were from independents, 2 were from the ACC and one was from the WAC.

* No one named Adrian, Reggie, Vince, Drew, Brady, or Maurice has ever won the Heisman. The last ‘Lawrence’ to win it was Larry Kelley in 1936, so Lawrence Maroney can rest easy about that one.

Or so the maven of Everyshouldbesaturday.com says.

It’s a very entertaining site, complete with its own set of Heisman rules that relate to the Heismandments in the same, loose way that The Sermon on the Mount related to Mosaic Law.

Always good to see fresh commentary on the greatest sport on God’s green earth: college football.

This list of who won’t win it is much easier to compile than the list of who will win.

We’ll just stick with the trendy picks for now.

Ted Ginn, Michael Hart, Chad Henne–We love Ginn’s all-around game, Hart is solid and Henne could be the front runner next season, but no dice. They are all just sophomores and you can’t win the Heisman unless you are a junior, a senior, or (maybe) Adrian Peterson.

Actually, Michigan’s best candidate may be junior Steve Breaston.

DeAngelo Williams, Omar Jacobs–There’s no rule that a player from Memphis or Bowling Green can’t win the Heisman. But there might as well be.

Special Categories (meaning, history may intrude so we must leave open the possibility):

Matt Leinart–Sorry, no more two-time winners. Unless this guy does it.

Adrian Peterson–Sophomores can’t win it. Unless this guy does.

Looking at the landscape, there appears to be a dearth of legitimate Heisman candidates this season. Most likely, someone we least expect will emerge.

Here’s a snapshot list of who we think has the best shot of actually winning the Heisman this season. This is NOT the predicted order of the voting. We’ll go into more detail on the issues surrounding these individuals later.

The Big 3

1. (tie) Reggie Bush of USC; Chris Leak of Florida: We kept going back and forth on these two and decided to split the difference. Bush occupies one of the great Heisman legacies–the position of USC tailback. However, he shares the spotlight with last year’s Heisman winner, Matt Leinart. Leak has built a solid resume (very important in Heisman circles) and now has a great coach to put him in position to put up huge numbers. However, he will be captive to the fortunes of his team (despite our ranking them No. 2, the Gators are not a fait accompli to go undefeated).

3. Vince Young, Texas: He’s a fourth-year junior quarterback on a traditional power that will be ranked in the top 10 most of the season. In other words, he’s pretty well in tune with The Heismandments.

The Next Group

4. Reggie McNeal, Texas A&M: He’s fairly well known and is coming off a good season. Like Leak, his Heisman fortunes will be wedded to his team’s performance.

5. Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma: The second Heismandment states that the winner of the Heisman must be a junior or senior. But, Peterson was the beneficiary of so much attention last season that he may be able to break through it. However, we have an inkling that it will be much tougher for him this season without Jason White.

6. Matt Leinart, USC: Like Peterson, he is going up against a Heismandment (No. 9) and is going to have a hard time breaking through. Like Jason White, he will earn a pat on the back on his way to a top 3 showing in the voting, but it’s a longshot for him to win it. There are many reasons, among them the presence of Bush in his backfield, the possibility of his stats suffering due to sitting on the bench during blowouts and the distinct chance of a Leinart overdose on the part of the Heisman voters. The one thing that could push him through to another trophy is USC’s run at a historic third-straight championship. If the Trojans get there, Leinart may get most of the credit.

7. Brady Quinn, Notre Dame: He is a junior quarterback playing for Notre Dame. Say no more. If he has a great year and leads the Irish back, he’s a very strong candidate.

8. Drew Tate, Iowa: Can challenge using the same formula as 2002 Heisman runner up Brad Banks. Except unlike Banks at the same juncture, he’s already a known name.

The Real Longshots

9. Maurice Drew, UCLA: This exciting back will likely have more all-purpose yards than Bush and will get a chance to upstage the Trojan tailback at season’s end. Still, he’s going to need the Bruins to have a dream season to really have a shot.

10. Lawrence Maroney, Minnesota: He could lead the nation in rushing, but it’s next to impossible for a Golden Gopher to win the Heisman.

1. USC– Going for their third-straight title and it is getting easier, not harder, to pick them for the top spot. There appears to be no end in sight to the Carroll Dynasty.

2. Florida– What a concoction! Start with an up-and-coming coach, add an innovative offense, throw in a large dose of talent and the result is a program that should slice through the SEC like a hot knife through butter–provided the Gators get up to speed by fall.

3. Louisville– One of six teams that have separated themselves offensively from the rest of the country, the Cardinals should flourish in the Big East.

4. Boise State– We spent all last season poo-pooing them and then they up and almost beat Louisville in the bowl game. These guys are confident–almost cocky–and boast an offensive system that defensive guru Pete Carroll said was as sound as any he had seen on tape in college football. That’s enough for me. Get ready to place your bets on them Sept. 3 when they visit Georgia.

5. Texas A&M– Oklahoma is down slightly and Texas is, well, Texas. That leaves the door open for the best coach in the Big 12–Dennis Franchione–to take advantage.

6. Texas– Texas is still, well, Texas. Which means they have enough talent to go 10-2 every year. And with Vince Young now in full bloom, maybe they can get lucky and beat OU for once.

7. Michigan– They are the Big 10′s version of Texas, with the Big 10′s version of Mack Brown running the show. Just like in the Rose Bowl, they are a shade behind the Longhorns in these rankings.

8. Utah– Why Utah? Why not? Who is going to beat them? Their system is still one of the best around.

9. Virginia Tech– If they get sound quarterback play, they’ll move higher. Great athletes on both sides of the ball.

10. California– I think that Jeff Tedford is somehow going to find an able quarterback to run things. If that happens, the Bears will be very good once more.

On the cusp: Iowa, Miami, Ohio State, Arizona State, Oklahoma

Why does a site called Heismanpundit bother with a Top 10 teams list? Because you can’t analyze the Heisman without understanding who the best teams are.

Last season was a controversial one for our Top 10 list. We refused to put Purdue in our Top 10 after the Boilermakers got off to a 5-0 start and were sitting at No. 5 in the regular polls. A few weeks later, the hate mail ceased as it became clear who was right on that one.

For much of the season, California was our No. 2 team, though our final poll before the bowls did rank Oklahoma in the two spot. People thought we were crazy, but we felt that any team that could take USC to the brink like it did deserved great respect. As it turns out, Cal gave the Trojans a better game than Oklahoma (though the same could be said for Stanford, too).

The Heismanpundit Top 10 teams list is more of a power ranking than anything else. The record of a team is not as important as the way a team wins games. We place a heavy emphasis on how innovative and crafty a coach is, what kind of system the teams run and how much talent is in place.

In the end, it’s mostly just good, clean fun.

I will never forget a conversation I had with a Florida Gator fan before last season.

“Who cares about the Heisman?” he told me.

“Who cares!?” I exclaimed. “Anyone who loves college football cares somewhat about the Heisman.”

“Not me. All I care about are the Gators. The Heisman is a joke. No one cares about it anymore.”

Well, the conversation didn’t end there, but even a casual observer of college football can see that the Heisman is as hot a topic as ever, as witnessed by the lists that are springing up here and there.

Yeah, it appears that the 2005 race has begun. And people already are talking about it and debating it.

I have the feeling that after this season, even that Gator fan will admit he was interested.

With almost all of the spring practices over and done with, it’s now time to get cracking on the Heisman race and college football in general.

We’ll be back soon with our 2005 Spring Heisman Preview, plus we’ll give our take on the current state of college football.

Hang on, it’s going to be quite a ride from now until January!