Besides figuring out the final order of the vote, this is probably the last remaining mystery in this year’s Heisman race.  The size of the anti-Newton non-vote protest will determine the size of his victory and help show what kind of cloud will hang over his win.

There are 925 Heisman votes.  If recent history is any guide, I expect approximately 900 ballots to be turned in.

Based on my own poll and the work over at Stiff Arm Trophy, I am predicting that somewhere between 15 and 20 percent of those ballots will not include Cam Newton.  This prediction may end up being a bit overstated, but when you include the (admittedly few) ballots that wouldn’t have included him anyway with the ones that are influenced by the recent events, I think there will be a distinct chunk of voters who shun the Newton candidacy.

That means that Newton could be left off as many as 180 ballots.  That still won’t have any effect on his win.  Even if he appears on 720 ballots, he is likely to sit atop the vast majority of them.  This will make his victory margin more akin to that of Ricky Williams in 1998 or Tony Dorsett in 1976. 

Without the NCAA scandal, I think we’d see Newton challenging the balloting levels set by O.J. Simpson, Troy Smith and the now-vacated Heisman won by Reggie Bush.

Ever wonder what the voters were thinking when selecting who to choose on their Heisman ballots?  Here’s a selection of commentary from various Heisman voters on why they voted the way they did:

It’s not beyond the realm of possibility to consider Auburn coach Gene Chizik may be right when he said Cam Newton was the best football player he’s ever seen, then added, “Over a 13 game stretch, I’ve never seen anything like it.” Neither have I. With all due respect to Tim Tebow, Newton is having the type of season that surpassing any the iconic Tebow had during his four special years at Floirda. And he did it with controversy swirling around him for the past month after allegations broke his father was shopping him to another SEC rival.”  

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Two reasons I voted for Kellen Moore: He is the nation’s leader in passing efficiency and his father didn’t try to sell his services to the highest bidder. If Cam Newton wins the award, they will need to recast the trophy in honor of his father: Instead of the guy on top of the trophy having his arm out, he will have his hand out.

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The NCAA says Cameron Newton was eligible and that was the only doubt about him. He’s clearly the most outstanding player. He’s posted one of the most impressive individual seasons ever. Cameron Newton is as close to unstoppable as any player I’ve seen since Barry Sanders.

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As someone who has voted for Golden Tate and Dennis Dixon, I don’t shy away from taking the unconventional route. Not this year. No way. The only debate was between Luck and Moore for second place, and I gave the Stanford kid the nod because of his superior rushing numbers.

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I don’t think its even close between Newton and everyone else. He just seems that much better than the field.

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No. 1 was easy. Newton is the most dominant all-around QB since Vince Young, and maybe more so.  Justin Blackmon has had a season on par if not better than Larry Fitzgerald’s runner-up ’03 season. My third choice was a toss-up between Luck and Kellen Moore. They have almost identical numbers, but Luck did it against slightly tougher competition.

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As with Colt McCoy a year ago, the award was Cam Newton’s to lose going into the final weekend. Instead of stumbling, Newton played like a champion. A possibly corrupt champion, but a champ nonetheless. He saved his most sublime performance of the season for it’s final game, erasing what tiny shreds of doubt remained about this worthiness. I can’t remember a year in which a candidate  left the rest of the field so far behind.

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While I would prefer to have all my Heisman winners tarnish-free, in the end my vote came down to performance over preference. Cam Newton is the most outstanding college football player, hands down (or hands out).

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Cam Newton is eligible. Cam Newton is, as far as anyone has been able to prove, unaware that his Dad asked for a mint for his son’s services at the college level. And Cam Newton is the best player in college football. It may be a vote that winds up with a trophy being rescinded or returned years from now, but there’s no other vote to make under the current circumstances. Cam Newton, right now, deserves the Heisman Trophy.

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This was the easiest Heisman vote in years because Cam Newton was far and away the best player in the nation. You can argue all you want about the off-the-field stuff, but we’re instructed to vote for the most outstanding player in the nation and Newton was clearly that. The toughest call on my ballot was for third. I went with Kellen Moore over Andrew Luck because I thought he did more with less.

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I was about to pull the trigger on a Newton-Luck-Blackmon ballot when I noticed the bit on the ballot that says “The recipient must be in compliance with the bylaws defining an NCAA Student-Athlete.” By the NCAA’s own press release last week, they said that bylaw 12.3.3 had been violated in the Newton situation.  When I went to vote, I had NO intention of voting this way. But when I thought about it, researched it, etc., I just couldn’t vote for Newton.  He will no doubt win without me, but I just had to vote my conscience.

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In all honesty, Newton won this award the week before last vs. Alabama. It would have taken a complete meltdown to lose it in the SEC title game. Newton has enjoyed one of the most dominating performances we have seen in recent college football history. He already is an all-time great!