It's a strange race for the Heisman Trophy this year.

The nation's best athletes - Marshall's Byron Leftwich, Ohio State's Maurice Clarett and MSU's Charles Rogers - have been eliminated by injuries or a terrible surrounding cast. And the nation's best unknowns - Texas Tech's Kliff Kingsbury and Washington State's Jason Gesser - just don't get enough play.

And let's be honest, unless a guy plays for the Miami Hurricanes, it doesn't seem like the voters will give him any credit.

Front-runners:

Willis McGahee
sophomore tailback, Miami

McGahee is a stud, that's all there is to it. And quite simply, the Hurricanes would easily have at least two losses by now if it wasn't for him. Why? Because McGahee is averaging 132 yards and almost two touchdowns per game. I don't care who you are, if you take those numbers away you're just not the same team.

Miami is 9-0 and McGahee's 1,188 yards and 17 touchdowns are the biggest reason why. When Ken Dorsey has struggled - he's thrown at least one pick in five of the 'Canes' nine contests, with two against Florida State and three against Florida - it's been McGahee who's kept Miami on course to defend its national championship.

Brad Banks
senior quarterback, Iowa

The Hawkeyes are one of the best team sin the Big Ten and in a perfect world would be getting a shot at the national title. But college football is far from perfect, and many are convinced the Bowl Championship Series is around just to remind us of that.

Banks isn't the only break-out performer for Iowa this season. The Hawkeyes have come out of nowhere, but Banks has led the way. And if you don't think he's done a great job guiding the troops, then answer me this, why does he have the nation's best pass efficiency rating at 166.1?

It doesn't get much better than Banks' 2,369 yards, 25 touchdowns and four picks. Unfortunately, with the Hawkeyes already finished it'll be hard for the Iowa signal caller to keep his momentum.

Ken Dorsey
senior quarterback, Miami

The Heisman voters often lose sight of the fact that the hardware is supposed to go to the player with the best season. Instead, it ends up as a career achievement award.

And it appears that could happen again this year with Dorsey. He hasn't had the greatest year, but his Hurricanes are primed to repeat as national champs and it's hard to argue with his 35-1 record as the starter.

As long as Miami remains undefeated it'll come down to McGahee or Dorsey - 2002 or career.

Dark horses:

Chris Brown
junior tailback, Colorado

or Larry Johnson
senior tailback, Penn State

McGahee's got the most talent, but Brown and Johnson have the numbers.

Brown's 1,744 yards leads the nation and Johnson's 1,736 are a close second. Whoever finishes on top will have a case for why he deserves to be a finalist, while the other will be left in the cold.

The Buffaloes are playing at Nebraska this weekend, while the Nittany Lions host MSU. A 2,000-yard season is within reach for both, but we'll see if they have enough left in their tanks.