Courtesy of Bruce Feldman’s Twitter page:

Heisman fav Mark Ingram once shot 69 on the golf course & has bowled a 248, and did both B4 reaching 9th grade.

Come on….a 69 before the ninth grade?  Was this putt putt?

Now is the time to earn that university pay check.

What we have before us this year is a rather unimpressive Heisman field.  The race is about as wide open as it can get, which means that if your guy catches fire, he has a shot at winning the most prestigious award in sports.   This would result in a publicity bonanza for your football program, not to mention a nice career feather in your cap.

With this in mind, it’s time we started to see some arguments made on behalf of certain players.  What is everyone waiting for?  As an ultra-informed Heisman voter, I know all the angles and how to approach them.  But what about the rest of the voters out there?  How are they going to sift through all the available information and come up with an informed decision? 

I think the impressionable voters out there want to know the following:

Notre Dame:  Tell me why we should overlook the fact that Jimmy Clausen has yet to lead his team to a victory over a ranked team.  What if he’s just a guy who feasts on average competition?  If I vote for him, is he going to get his butt kicked in a bowl game just like Brady Quinn did?  Make me believe otherwise.

Florida:  Tell me why Tim Tebow shouldn’t be penalized for throwing more interceptions than touchdowns in SEC play this year?  Why is his production plummeting so much?  Why should I give him a Heisman–again!–when he isn’t living up to the lofty standards that won him the trophy in the first place? 

Alabama:  What’s so great about Mark Ingram?  He’s averaging 129 yards per game, which is nice, but it’s not out of this world, is it?  Why is he special?  Heck, I kind of think he might not even be the most talented back on his team.  Show me the light.

Texas:  Why should I vote for a guy who has thrown so many bad interceptions this season?  And whatever happened to that great mobility we saw last year from McCoy?  Wasn’t he supposed to be another Roger Staubach?  If he couldn’t win the Heisman last year while playing so well, why should he get it this year when he is not?

Nebraska:  Are you kidding?  A defensive tackle?  How do you even pronounce that name?  

Houston:  Why is Case Keenum so different from Andre Ware?  Isn’t he just a system guy who will be replaced by someone else in two years with little or no dropoff?

To SIDs:  If you want to make an unimpeded case for your guy here on HeismanPundit.com, shoot me an email at heismanpundit@gmail.com and we’ll feature your thoughts or your multi-media presentations.

Let the debate begin!

Hump day is here, so check out what’s going on…

—Last year’s Heisman winner, Sam Bradford, is entering the NFL draft.   It is a shame to see him go, as his career has been brilliant, but he should have gone pro after last season.  Unanimous advice has finally pushed him to the NFL, he says.

—Count 1959 Heisman winner Billy Cannon as a big admirer of Tim Tebow.

—Ryan Mathews for Heisman?   No way.  If Marshall Faulk couldn’t win it, Mathews sure can’t.

—West Virginia is running a non-Heisman Heisman campaign for Noel Devine.  Hate to break it to you guys, but with the Heisman race this wide open, now’s the time to be bold.  At least this guy knows what time it is.

—So it is at Clemson, too, where a renewed push on behalf of C.J. Spiller is underway.  Smart move.  I hope to see some stuff in my email inbox soon.

—Heisman talk is ramping up for Kellen Moore of Boise State.  Might as well, right?  The guy leads the nation in passing efficiency, after all.

—Dez Bryant has been banned for the season.  The NCAA can really suck sometimes.

—Here’s the first of 9,000 mock drafts to come before the NFL draft.

—The new ESPN Heisman Watch is fairly close to HP’s poll.

—My pick for best BCS conference so far this year:  The Pac-10–Oh, stop your whining.  After USC, there are five–count em, five–teams that will probably win between seven and 10 games before bowl season:  Oregon, Cal, Stanford, Oregon State and Arizona.  And one more might get to six wins.  This is the best collection of quality teams in the country. This despite the fact that nine of the conference’s 10 teams have played schedules ranked 28th or higher by Sagarin.  Six of the teams are in the top 12 in schedule strength.  When is the Sports Illustrated cover coming out?

The rest in order: SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East

—My BCS Bowl Matchups as of right now..

BCS Title Game–Alabama vs. USC

Rose Bowl–Iowa vs. Oregon

Orange Bowl–Virginia Tech vs. Cincinnati 

Fiesta Bowl–Texas vs. TCU

Sugar Bowl–Florida vs. Boise State

“I have no explanation for my ballot.  I have no rhyme or reason for my ballot. The Heisman Trophy should change its name to the Who’sman Trophy. It has become  the award nobody wants to win. I put Mark Ingram No. 1 on my ballot just because. I still have McCoy and Tebow in my Top 5 just because.  I feel  like the lonely girl sitting by the phone waiting for someone to ask me to the prom. I’m sitting here alone in my office cubicle with an empty ballot waiting for a worthy candidate to emerge.” — a Heisman Trophy voter.

The votes are in for this week’s HeismanPundit.com Poll, which I’ll release in full on Tuesday.

Just a tidbit for now:  Tim Tebow took the biggest hit in the poll, dropping from second to fourth while landing on just eight of 13 ballots.

At this rate, he might not make it to New York.