Heisman Watch 2014: Exploring Latest Twitter Buzz and Speculation on Race

Who will be crowned college football's greatest player when the Heisman Trophy winner is announced in New York? Everyone around the Web has an opinion on the matter, and with the regular season winding down, the race's front-runners are beginning to emerge.

So, here are the burning questions. How do expert rankings look heading into Week 14? Who is garnering the most buzz? Are there any dark horses who might be considered? These are all legitimate questions. They're also easily answered with a quick glance around the Internet.

Let's take a look at some recent buzz and speculation surrounding the Heisman race by providing answers to those three aforementioned inquiries.

Expert Rankings

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What would expert rankings be without Bleacher Report's own Barrett Sallee's opinion? The college football guru recently released his updated top five following Week 13. Here's a look at his selections:

While Sallee's top two selections, Marcus Mariota and Melvin Gordon, are expected, his No. 3 pick is rather intriguing.

TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin has been very good this season, especially considering his seven-touchdown performance against Texas Tech; however, he's been average over the last three weeks. If he's going to have any shot in New York, Boykin will need a huge game against Texas this week.

Six CBS Sports experts weighed in with their Heisman thoughts following Week 13. Unsurprisingly, all six ranked Mariota first; however, Dennis Dodd pegged Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett as his No. 2 selection over Gordon. Here's a look at their consensus rankings:

Place	Player	Pos.	School	Points
1	Marcus Mariota	QB	Oregon	30
2	Melvin Gordon	RB	Wisconsin	23
3	Dak Prescott	QB	Mississippi State	9
4	Tevin Coleman	RB	Indiana	9
5	J.T. Barrett	QB	Ohio State	7

Finally, we have ESPN's rankings, via ESPN College Football:

ESPN goes a little more in-depth with its rankings, as every expert selects five players in order. Those votes are tallied, and a top-10 list is created as a result. This list is intriguing simply because of its depth. After Week 13, there's even a defensive player on the board. Take a look:

Name	Position	School	Year	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Total
Marcus Mariota	QB	Oregon	Jr.	7	3	0	0	0	47
Melvin Gordon	RB	Wisconsin	Jr.	3	7	0	0	0	43
Trevone Boykin	QB	TCU	Jr.	0	0	3	3	1	16
J.T. Barrett	QB	Ohio State	Fr.	0	0	2	2	2	12
Dak Prescott	QB	Miss. State	Jr.	0	0	2	2	2	12
Amari Cooper	WR	Alabama	Jr.	0	0	2	2	1	11
Tevin Coleman	RB	Indiana	Jr.	0	0	1	0	1	4
Jameis Winston	QB	Florida State	So.	0	0	0	1	1	3
Nick Chubb	RB	Georgia	Fr.	0	0	0	0	1	1
Scooby Wright III	LB	Arizona	So.	0	0	0	0	1	1

Mariota and Gordon are within just four votes of each other, making Week 14 very interesting.

Garnering Buzz

Of course, Mariota is the talk of the town right now—he has been all season. Recently, analysts have been tweeting about some of the incredible numbers posted by the quarterback, which we could certainly deem Heisman-worthy.

The Oregon quarterback has been tremendously efficient this season, completing 68.0 percent of his passes for 3,103 yards and 32 touchdowns while throwing just two interceptions. Those stats become even more impressive when you factor in his 597 rushing yards and nine scores.

Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports tweeted about Mariota's torrid pace over the last two seasons:

Gordon is setting impressive marks of his own. ESPN Stats & Info tweeted a telling statistic regarding Wisconsin's running back:

If we're calling Mariota an efficient quarterback, we better be calling Gordon an efficient ball-carrier as well.

Ohio State's Barrett has been the talk of the town in recent weeks. He's setting all sorts of school records, and ESPN College Football tweeted a summary of what he's done so far this season:

Some of the school's broken records were formerly owned by Heisman-winning quarterback Troy Smith. Well, Smith likes what he sees in Barrett, according to ESPN Big Ten:

"

Troy Smith endorses J.T. Barrett for Heisman http://t.co/p555GOsIMZ

— ESPN Big Ten (@ESPN_BigTen) November 24, 2014"

While Barrett is a long shot to win the prestigious award this season, he's only a freshman. Expect to hear his name mentioned in Heisman circles for a couple of years to come.

Dark Horse

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There's one dark horse who has popped up on several expert rankings recently: Indiana running back Tevin Coleman. The junior ball-carrier is putting up some monster numbers with the Hoosiers, rushing for 1,906 yards on 241 carries—an average of 7.9 yards per rush—and scoring 15 touchdowns.

Unfortunately, he isn't being considered as much as he should be, due to the Hoosiers' lackluster 3-8 record. If the school isn't producing wins and Coleman isn't displaying his prowess in front of a larger audience, votes will be tough to come by.

College Football 24/7 tweeted that he should be considered in the Heisman race due to the lack of top-notch talent around him:

Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer weighed in on the running back:

Mike Wells of ESPN may have summed it up best:

We can consider Coleman a dark horse for the Heisman simply because analysts are really beginning to take notice. Unfortunately, it's probably a little too late. However, all is not lost for the junior running back, as this late attention will surely be noticed by NFL scouts.