The Heisman race isn’t that jumbled.

In fact, it’s pretty cut and dry at this point: Two frontrunners and two main challengers.

Here’s how I think the Heisman race will play out this weekend:

Leinart and Bush

The biggest game of the day will be in Tempe as Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush continue their duel for the Trophy with a game against ASU. Bush got a lot of mileage out of his huge all-purpose game against Oregon last week, with several highlight runs (Heisman moments, perhaps). As a result, the consensus seems to be that Bush would win the Heisman if the voting were held today. I tend to agree on that note. As good as Leinart is, there is still a crowd of people out there who see him as being the beneficiary of all the talent around him. Meanwhile, Bush is simply viewed for the most part as the best all-around player in college football. This game with ASU is interesting in that it has some possible pitfalls for Leinart. Obviously, if the Trojans lose, both Leinart and Bush’s campaigns take major hits. However, Leinart is the quarterback and would shoulder most of the damage from a loss. Bush, on the other hand, has a better chance to recover, since his spectacular play is appreciated outside of the realm of wins and losses. Even if the Trojans win, there is another possible problem for Leinart–ASU’s Sam Keller. There is a chance that the Sun Devil QB could put up better numbers than Leinart in this game, while it is unlikely that an ASU running back will outperform Bush. If Bush has another big game, he will likely move past Leinart in the Heisman race and have a chance to seal the trophy with a great game against Notre Dame.

My Prediction: Bush has another huge all-purpose day with a couple highlight runs. Leinart goes bonkers as well. Bush–who will have a long feature on ESPN GameDay on Saturday morning–comes out with a slight advantage.

Vince Young

Young has been off the radar a bit after leading his team to a big win over Ohio State on Sept. 10. This game against Missouri gives him a chance to pump up his numbers and break off some highlight plays before getting back in the spotlight a bit when he goes up against OU next week. Unfortunately for his Heisman bid, OU is now ‘Oh No’, so a Texas win there will be met with a collective yawn by the college football establishment. Young is the tortoise to the USC duo’s hare in this race. He just needs to make sure Texas keeps winning and, if USC loses, he’ll have a shot at taking home the trophy. But at this point, he is a distant third.

My Prediction: Another solid outing for Young as the Longhorns rip Missouri. He’ll still be a solid No. 3 after this weekend.

Chris Leak

The game against Alabama marks the beginning of a four-week stretch in which Chris Leak has a real chance to move up in the Heisman race. Here’s how things could go: Leak has a huge game in leading Florida to a win over Bama. Then, he piles up big numbers in a rout of Mississipi State. The Gators stand at 6-0 and Leak’s numbers look sterling. He then leads UF to wins over LSU and Georgia. When the dust clears, the Gators are 8-0 and Leak has been the prime reason it all happened. From that point on, Leak is in the Heisman mix as the leader of the top team in the SEC. And at the end, the FSU game and SEC title game loom. Can it happen? Sure. Will it? Only time will tell.

My Prediction: I do think he will lead Florida to a win over an overrated Bama squad and as a result we will start to see his name mentioned more often in the Heisman debate.

Chris Leak works on his audibles

On The Darkhorses

–Look for Drew Stanton to solidify his bid to become a Heisman finalist with a big win over Michigan on Saturday.

–Laurence Maroney could be on Stanton’s heels with a great game against Penn State. But while I believe UM will win, I thnk Maroney will get slowed down some by a pretty good PSU defense.

–Maurice Drew probably won’t get 322 rushing yards like he did last year against Washington, but he’ll probably go off nonetheless.

Here’s how I think the Heisman vote would go on Monday, if it were held:

1. Reggie Bush
2. Matt Leinart
3. Vince Young
4. Chris Leak
5. Drew Stanton
6. Laurence Maroney
7. Marcus Vick
8. Reggie McNeal
9. Sam Keller
10. Brian Calhoun

Here’s a roundup of the latest Heisman buzz in the media:

–Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush are 1-2 in the latest Scripps Howard News Service Heisman poll..

This week’s poll, with first place votes in parentheses:

1. Matt Leinart, QB, USC 46 (6).

2. Reggie Bush, RB, USC 38 (4).

3. Vince Young, QB, Texas, 28.

4. Laurence Maroney, RB, Minnesota 13.

5. Chris Leak, QB, Florida, 11.

Others receiving votes: Drew Stanton, QB, Michigan State, 6; Marcus Vick, QB, Virginia Tech, 3; Adrian Peterson, RB, Oklahoma, 2; Brian Calhoun, RB, Wisconsin, 1; Reggie McNeal, QB, Texas A&M, 1.

For the second year in a row, someone from Helix High in San Diego is trying to run down Matt Leinart for the Heisman

Look for the USC-ASU game, the Florida-Alabama game and the Minnesota-PSU game to create a little movement next week among that top five.

–The Daily Cardinal of Madison has a top three of Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and Vince Young.

–The Charlotte Sun-Herald has Matt Leinart as its leader, with Chris Leak, Drew Stanton and Laurence Maroney in the wings.

–The Orlando Sentinel says that Leinart is waltzing to another Heisman.

–Vince Young is keeping Heisman talk to a minimum, according to the Houston Chronicle.

–Chris Leak is finally earning praise from Urban Meyer heading into Florida’s game against Alabama.

Okay, so I fell for it.

I thought that if you take a good head coach like Dennis Franchione, a good defensive coordinator like Carl Torbush and then throw in all kinds of local talent–like Reggie McNeal–it would end up equating to a rebound for Texas A&M.

But now, after giving up 31 points to Texas State–not North Texas but Div. 1-AA TSU!–it looks like Franchione and Co. just ain’t getting it done at A&M. This story by Rachel Cohen of the Dallas Morning News examines the issues that Texas A&M has with its defense.

What’s remarkable is that about five to seven years ago, Franchione was probably the best coach in the country. He was the master of turning programs around–and quickly. Apparently, not this time.

I guess sometimes the game catches up to you.

But then, it also brings to mind a phrase that a friend of mine with 40 years in football likes to recite:

“There are no great coaches. Only good coaches in great situations.”

Franchione and Texas A&M still haven’t turned the corner

We’ve had a pretty good last two weeks picking games, as we’ve gone 11-3 against the spread–with some of our score predictions turning out to be downright eerie at times.

So without further ado, here’s how we see the games shaping up this weekend:

USC 56, ASU 24–As good as the Sun Devils are, everyone is forgetting one thing: Pete Carroll has Dirk Koetter figured out.

Virginia Tech 31, West Virginia 10–The Hokies keep on rolling.

Florida 31, Alabama 17–The Gators are slowly getting the offense down. When was the last time the Tide played a team that could pass? Answer: Hawaii (a 2003 loss).

Texas 35, Missouri 14–Vince Young wins handily in battle of mobile quarterbacks.

FSU 24, Syracuse 13–Perry Patterson comes to life, making this game a little closer than people expect.

This will probably happen a lot to Perry Patterson on Saturday

Michigan State 35, Michigan 31–Another heartbreaking, yet deserving, loss for the Wolverines.

Purdue 21, Notre Dame 17–I actually need this to happen so I can be able to buy cheaper ticket from scalpers for the upcoming USC-ND game.

Minnesota 34, Penn State 20–The Nittany Lions finally run out of ways to cover up the atrocious play of Michael Robinson, aka ‘Mr. Turnover’.

UCLA 49, Washington 17–This one should be over by halftime. I admit I like Maurice Drew better than Maurice Jones-Drew.

LSU 41, Miss. State 10–A get-well game for the Tigers.

Expect even more befuddlement from Croom against LSU

Oregon 38, Stanford 14–A get-well game for the Ducks.

Louisville 66, FAU 3–A get-well game for the Cardinals.

If you get a chance, check out Sports Illustrated’s SI On Campus.com, which captures a lot of the spirit of college athletics.

What’s more, the site is a friend to bloggers, as this site and others we know of have been linked from there.

The best part just might be the Model of the Day section.

Check it out!

SI swimsuit model Jessica White likes Oregon and the points over Stanford on Saturday

The inaugural Master Coaches Survey is now out.

Here’s the list of retired coaches who are voting:

John Cooper, Vince Dooley, Pat Dye, LaVell Edwards, Hayden Fry, Don James, Frank Kush, Dick MacPherson, Bill Mallory, Don Nehlen, John Ralston, John Robinson, Bo Schembechler, R.C. Slocum, Gene Stallings and George Welsh.

The first poll doesn’t look much different than the AP and Harris polls, but this seems like an idea whose time has come.

For starters, the first poll is out in late September. This eliminates some–though probably not enough–of the bias inherent in the preseason polls.

Second, though I don’t think being a coach necessarily makes you more automatically more qualified to judge a team than the next guy, the collective history and knowledge that these guys possess carries a lot of weight.

The fact that they spend the early part of the week studying film and breaking down statistics helps, too. It’s also nice that the coaches have a myriad of football backgrounds–from the aerial game of LaVell Edwards to the grind-it-out style of Bo Schembechler.

The only thing I would stress is that I hope these coaches all take this task very seriously. I think it has a chance to catch on as a credible poll, as long as they don’t conform to the usual shady practices we see elsewhere (ugh, how does Idaho get four votes in the Harris poll?).

So, we’ll be keeping a hopeful eye on them.

Master Poll Notes

–Wow, how transparently bad is the Big 12 this year? They have Texas ranked at No. 2 and then you have to go all the way down to No. 17 to find Texas Tech, a team that is 3-0 after beating various versions of Slippery Rock.

–The SEC leads with six ranked teams, the ACC and Big Ten have five apiece, the Pac-10 has four, and the Big East has two (as does the Big 12, as previously mentioned).

–The Coaches seem to like the Pac-10 more than other polls do, as all four of its ranked teams are in the top 14–a feat not matched by any other conference.

–USC was the unanimous pick at No. 1, while Texas grabbed all but one of the No. 2 votes.

–There was some very divergent opinions on some teams. One coach had LSU ranked 10th, while another put the Tigers at 24th. Arizona State was as high as 10th and as low as 18th. There were various votes for UTEP, Fresno State, Kansas State and Clemson.

The coaches deliberate

Ever wonder what rivalries are drawing the most interest among fans?

Well, Stubhub.com, an online ticket broker, has put together a list of the rivalry games that are the hottest in terms of ticket demands right now.

At the top of the list right now?

USC-Notre Dame.

The nation’s hottest rivalry