Here’s the link to my appearance yesterday on AOL.com’s Sports Blogger Roundup where I talked about the Heisman race.

While we think OU did the right thing in picking Paul Thompson as its starting quarterback, it looks like Tennessee is going with the wrong guy in picking Erik Ainge over Rick Clausen.

From what we saw last year, Clausen is just a better quarterback than Ainge, who nonetheless did some good things as a freshman. By all reports, Clausen appeared to be doing better than Ainge in fall camp, but Phil Fulmer chose the sophomore over the senior in large part due to his mobility (though if it was mobility he craved, he should have given Brett Schaeffer more of a shot).

Fulmer is quick to point out, though, that both quarterbacks are set to play. So this issue is far from settled.

Once question I want to know: How did an Oregon kid like Erik Ainge end up with the Southern bowl cut?. Maybe Clausen should have followed suit.

It’s officially game week, so it’s time to lay down a marker as to who we think will be the best players in the country this year.

This is our second annual All-American team. It’s a list comprised of athletes we think will be widely considered the best in the country by season’s end.

Per our tradition, we will NOT choose an offensive line team. Why? Because we don’t know who the best five offensive linemen are week in and week out and neither does Kirk Herbstreit, the Outland Trophy voters, the Lombardi voters, Matt Hayes, Mark May, Bruce Feldman, or any of the other college football media. Face it, no one really watches the offensive line that closely. And if we did, most of us wouldn’t know what the linemen were supposed to be doing on a given play anyway. There are no NCAA stats for offensive linemen, so what happens is that it ends up being a semi-educated guess. Of course, there are a group of linemen that we know are pro prospects: Eric Winston of Miami, Winston Justice of USC and D’Brickashaw Ferguson of Virginia, for instance. However, how can we justify if these guys are playing better than someone from, say, Boise State (like Ryan Colledge, for example)?

We can’t. And neither can anyone else. So we won’t make the call (and neither should they, but they will).

So without further ado, here’s our team:

OFFENSE

Quarterback: Chris Leak, Florida
Running Back: Reggie Bush, USC
Running Back: Laurence Maroney, Minnesota
Wide Receiver: Andre Caldwell, Florida
Wide Receiver: Dwayne Jarrett, USC
Tight End: Marcedes Lewis, UCLA
Place Kicker: Mason Crosby, Colorado

Obviously, Leak is a controversial pick. But he’s No. 2 on our Heisman list. It would be disingenuous not to go with him. Bush is our Heisman pick, while Maroney has a good shot at 2,000 yards. Caldwell’s emergence we see as a byproduct of Leak’s success. Our spies at USC practice tell us that Jarrett has grown into his body and is primed for a huge year, while Lewis is simply a special talent at tight end.

DEFENSE

DE: Mathias Kiwanuka, Boston College
DE: LaMarr Woodley, Michigan
DT: Haloti Ngata, Oregon
DT: Orien Harris, Miami
LB: Ahmad Brooks, Virginia
LB: Spencer Havner, UCLA
LB: Brandon Siler, Florida
CB: Charles Gordon, Kansas
CB: Devin Hester, Miami
FS: Pat Watkins, Florida State
SS: Darnell Bing, USC
P: Tom Malone, USC

Punt Returner: Ted Ginn, Ohio State
Kickoff Returner: Devin Hester, Miami
All-Purpose: Reggie Bush, USC

Kiwanuka was dominant last year, while Woodley showed that he is about to blossom into something special. Ngata and Harris are the two most talented interior tackles and should have good years, while Ahmad Brooks is a lock to be a top 10 pick in the next draft. Havner is underrated, while Siler is going to be a big star. Gordon had a great year last year and our bet is on Hester to develop at corner since he had another spring and fall under his belt. Watkins and Bing were the two top safeties the year they came out of high school and here they are today in the same position in college.

Heismanpundit will be appearing on Sportsbloggerslive.com, an AOL community radio show tonight at 7:30 ET/4:30 PT.

Handicapping the Heisman will be the subject, with Jamie Mottram of misterirrelevant the host.

Be sure to tune in online.

While ESPN Gameday is excruciatingly vapid, the dot.com and Magazine do a much better job of breaking things down.

One of the better features of ESPN.com’s college football section is the Heisman Watch, as seen here.

This is a poll of staffers and commentators at ESPN. While it is not scientific–and rarely conforms to the actual state of the Heisman race–it does give a good view of the conventional wisdom.

Hence, the top four in its preseason poll are Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, Adrian Peterson and Vince Young, in that order.

At Texas Monthly Magazine, that is.

Seems it put Brown on the cover in what the Texas coach called an ‘arrogant looking’ pose.

You can see the cover here.

What’s more, the headline reads: ‘Let’s Go Kick Some OU Butt.’

Brown claims he didn’t approve the cover and thought that Vince Young and he would both be featured.

Methinks this magazine is going to be fodder for quite a bit of hijinx in Dallas come October.

It’s already been the subject of the Farking wonders on the OU message boards. Click here for some laughs.

It’s almost like the mystery behind North Korea and the bomb.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that Urban Meyer is optimistic about Chris Leak’s progress in his system.

“Close, man, he’s close,” Meyer said about Leak. “Obviously the word perfection is used a lot when you try to run this offense. We’re not there yet, but we’re darn close.”

From our point of view, this will be one of the three most important issues in college football this year. If Florida doesn’t get that system down this season, then the SEC will get a one-year reprieve from the onslaught coming its way. However, we’re betting that by Game 3, this system will kick into gear and start to fly. Then all hell will break loose in college football.

Though Herbstreit will still stick with his Buckeyes.