Heisman Watch 2011: Predicting the Trophy's Finalists

With college football's regular season now complete and the postseason pairings official, it's time to turn our attention to the most prestigious award in the sport—the Heisman Trophy—which will be handed out Saturday night in New York City.

This year, we've seen some great individual performances from college football's top stars, and this has truly been one of the most crowded and unpredictable races in recent memory.

Every week, it seemed that a few new players would emerge while others faltered, and in the end, there must have been more than 30 different players who were considered serious candidates at some point during the season. 

The finalists are set to be announced later tonight, but if it were up to me, here's a look at the five players I would send to New York City.

Robert Griffin III, QB (Baylor)

It didn't take long for Baylor QB Robert Griffin III to catch the attention of college football fans around the country.

Griffin came out firing this season, as he led Baylor to a huge, attention-grabbing 50-48 win over TCU the first Friday night of the season. Griffin threw for 359 yards and hit five touchdown strikes against the once-vaunted Horned Frogs defense.

That would turn out to be just the beginning of what has truly been a Heisman-worthy 2011 campaign for Griffin. The junior dual-threat signal-caller has been college football's most exciting and most explosive player this season. He accounted for 4,657 yards of total offense, scored 45 touchdowns and put together a 192 passer rating—good for best in all of college football.

Griffin has been the savior the Baylor football program desperately needed, and it's hard to make a case that any other player in college football is more deserving of the Heisman this year than Robert Griffin III.

Trent Richardson, RB (Alabama)

Everyone knew Alabama RB Trent Richardson had the potential to be special, and it was exciting to see Richardson finally reach that potential in his first year replacing former Heisman-winning teammate Mark Ingram as the main man of the Alabama backfield.

Richardson grabbed the relinquished rushing reins from Ingram, and made the most of his new opportunity as a starter, bulldozing his way to 1,583 rushing yards and scoring 23 total touchdowns.

Without Richardson in the mix, there's simply no way Alabama is in the national title game right now, and he's definitely made a big statement to Heisman voters this year.

The 5'11'', 220-pound junior powerhouse is one of the best backs we've seen in college football this century, and he's definitely made a solid case as to why he deserves this year's trophy.

Andrew Luck, QB (Stanford)

After finishing as the runner-up to Cam Newton in last year's Heisman race, Andrew Luck decided to return to Stanford with the hopes that he could add both a National Championship and a Heisman Trophy to his college resume.

However, it doesn't look like Luck will end up walking away with either.

Luck entered the year as the consensus Heisman favorite, and while he's had a terrific season—throwing for more than 3,100 yards and leading the Cardinal to an 11-1 record and a Fiesta Bowl berth—he just hasn't done enough to earn the Heisman this season.

The junior star signal-caller was outplayed by the two best players he faced off against this year, USC QB Matt Barkley and Oregon RB LaMichael James. Plus that awful-looking loss to Oregon at home was a huge hit to his Heisman hopes.

Still, don't feel too bad for Luck if his name isn't called Saturday night; something tells me he'll be just fine in the NFL, even without a Heisman Trophy on his mantle.

Matt Barkley, QB (USC)

If you had told me back in late September, after that terrible loss to Arizona State, that USC would end the season with a 10-2 record and that Matt Barkley would be right in the mix for a Heisman Trophy, I wouldn't have believed you.

However, the Trojans managed to recover and finish off the year in dominant fashion—and they owe much of that success to their star quarterback. 

Barkley has a lot of reasons to be smiling right now. Not only is he a legitimate Heisman contender but he's also got the future decision to make of leaving school and becoming a Top Five draft pick or returning to the celebrity of college football for the entire offseason, then leading a National Championship contender in the fall.

Yup, it's pretty good to be Barkley right now.

That's how it goes, though. Good things usually tend to happen to quarterbacks who throw for more than 3,500 yards and 39 touchdowns.

With the exception of the loss to the Sun Devils, Barkley was magnificent basically all year long, and it's a true shame that we may not get to see him play another down in college ever again.

Montee Ball, RB (Wisconsin)

Let me start by saying that Wisconsin RB Montee Ball has about a .02 chance of winning the Heisman this year, but that doesn't mean he doesn't belong in the discussion.

And, more importantly, that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve an invitation to New York City.

Ball has been the catalyst for Wisconsin's powerful and potent offense this year, and it was him—not star QB Russell Wilson—who was actually the key to the Badgers' success this season.

The 5'11'', 210-pound junior capped off a terrific year with a four-touchdown performance in the Big Ten title game Saturday night, as Ball propelled the Badgers to the conference championship and another berth in the Rose Bowl.

This year, Ball led the country with 1,759 rushing yards, and he scored a whopping 38 total touchdowns.

The fact that the Badgers got knocked out of the national title hunt before November even rolled around really hurt Ball's visibility this season, but nonetheless, he's certainly still done enough to sit with college football's other elite players in New York Dec. 10.

So Who Deserves to Win?

If the Heisman Trophy is truly awarded to the best player in college football, then Robert Griffin III has to be the recipient this year.

Griffin has been the best individual performer of 2011, and he's done everything you ask a Heisman winner to do: win a bunch of games, put up big numbers, beat top-notch opponents and make a few highlight-reel plays.

It's hard to say no to guys like Trent Richardson and Matt Barkley, especially with the types of campaigns they've had this year, but Griffin has just been in a class all by himself this season, and there's no one who deserves the 2011 Heisman Trophy more than he does.