The Media Sort of Likes This Tebow Guy

This isn’t exactly ground-breaking analysis here, but we’re pretty sure the Heisman Trophy award is the single most rigged sports-related event this side of the NBA playoffs.  

It may not be consciously rigged – we assume there are no Russian mobsters making millions off the results – but for some voters, their preconceived notions about which college football player will have the best season is as responsible for shaping their ballots as a hefty check might be. 

For further evidence, look no further than this week’s Heisman Watch on ESPN.com.

Now, we have no clue which of the voters in ESPN’s Heisman Watch have actual votes for the award, if any, but if their line of thinking is indicative of how the media is viewing this race, then Florida’s Tim Tebow will be forced to lose the award rather than win it.

The Scripps Howard Heisman Poll, which polls actual voters, backs up this theory as they also have Tebow resting comfortable at the top, proving that if you’re a big enough name (and you carry babies like footballs while wearing blue crocs) then you don’t have to put up numbers so long as voters feel comfortable crediting you with anything positive that you’re team does.  Say, for example, your defense holds the #4 ranked team in the country to three points on the road while you have a fairly mediocre performance throwing for under 150 yards, with one TD and one pick.  For most QB’s, you’re an afterthought.  For Tim Tebow it is a “definitive performance”…###MORE###

Tebow isn’t alone in benefitting from the hype factor.  Texas QB Colt McCoy has a sparkling TD/INT ratio of 1.6 : 1 (10 TD, 6 INT) yet his name has cemented his status as the #2 man on the Scripps Howard Poll.  For McCoy, the overall theme is “sure he hasn’t been all that good so far, but let’s see what he does against Oklahoma before we start evaluating him objectively”. 

Not all media members are buying into the hype machine and are instead actually paying attention to the performance on the field in their Heisman handicapping.  Gene Menez of SI.com has Tebow sitting #5 and McCoy at #9 on his most recent list, with ND’s Jimmy Claussen and Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh at #1 and #2.  CBSSports.com’s Heisman panel has only one voter with Tebow occupying the top spot. 

But those dissenting opinions seem to be the minority, with unbridled love for the big names dominating the mainstream.  

If Tebow can runaway with the Heisman Trophy without really doing anything that spectacular on the field, just imagine what kind of a margin he could win by if he actually played the remainder of the SEC schedule by himself as the media might have you believe he could.

Voters may let him go back and retroactively take Sam Bradford’s Heisman from last year.

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