Top Heisman Trophy Contenders Not in the SEC

I know the season is still a few weeks away, but it never hurts to try and predict the upcoming season.

Every player on every team has the same dream right now: Become the 2011 NCAA Football Heisman Trophy winner. 

Lets face it, everyone aged 18 to 22 (and in some cases older) want to be the big man on campus.  If you're a front runner for the Heisman not only are you a stud, but you're team must be in the National Championship hunt.

The last five years the SEC has dominated the Heisman ceremony with its players winning three of them.

This is a list of the top five players right now that have a shot at stealing the Heisman and are not attending an SEC school.

6. Case Keenum- QB Houston

Keenum is a very valuable quarterback.  He was in the chase to become the leader in NCAA passing yards and touchdown passes, but tore an ACL in week 3 of the season.

Keenum returns for his sixth season at Houston and is a little under 4,000 yards away from breaking the passing record and 28 touchdown passes shy of breaking the touchdown passes record.

With a great arm and amazing accuracy, look for those record to be broken, and Keenum to be in the Heisman chase.

5. Kellen Moore- QB Boise State

Moore made the top Heisman candidates last season and wound up finishing fourth in Heisman voting.  He returned to Boise for his senior season.

The only downside to him coming back is losing his top two targets to the NFL.

The bright-side is Moore has for over 10,000 career yards, 99 touchdowns, and just 19 total interceptions.

Another bright-side is Boise State has made a name for themselves and are getting more and more attention every year.

4. Denard Robinson- QB Michigan

Maybe the most explosive player in NCAA football right now is Denard Robinson. 

Robinson is not only dangerous in the air, but even more on the ground. 

The option is what made Robinson deadly.  Once teams stacked the box to stop him from running, Robinson would air it out for a huge play.

"Big Play Robinson" is only a sophomore and is a huge threat to take the Heisman this season.

If he can stay out of injury problems and if new coach Brady Hoke can keep the ball in his hands, then look for Denard to be in New York come December.

3. LaMichael James- RB Oregon

The only person on my list that's not a quarterback is James.

The Doak Walker Award winner, James was one of the leaders for National Runner-up Oregon last season.  He returns for the same reason as luck and that's to win a title.

James was also the nation's leading running back with 1,731 yards.  He averaged 144 yards per game.  He also had 21 touchdowns which was second best in the nation.

Another overlooked stat was that he had three touchdown catches on only 17 receptions.

He was Oregon's first unanimous All-American.

2. Landry Jones- QB Oklahoma

Jones may be one of the favorites if not the favorite coming into this season.

He threw for 38 touchdown passes and almost 5,000 yards last year.

Also in his favor is Oklahoma's No. 1 standing in the polls entering the year.

1. Andrew Luck- QB Stanford

Luck in my mind is the Heisman favorite.  He stayed for his senior season at Stanford and wants nothing more than to win a National Championship and Heisman.

Luck was destined to be the No. 1 pick in this past year's draft, but he decided to stay.

He passed last season for almost 3,500 yards and 32 touchdowns—not to mention a 70% completion percentage.

Last season's Orange Bowl MVP is the next great QB.