Here's the RTT Maxwell Pundit ballot for the end of the regular season . Rakes of Mallow posts the weekly standings Wednesday mornings, so head over there noon-ish for this week's results. The last round will be after the bowl games.
I'm battling a wicked cold, and the pseudoephedrine is racing through my veins like Percy Harvin, so I hereby disclaim all of what I am about to write.
No. 1: Troy Smith. You know, it's at this time of the year that I start to begin to almost, in a very small way, get the littlest whiff of a minute hint of a smallish inkling about how Peyton Manning lost the Heistman. Here's the thing: Smith is the front-runner for the best player in college football, whether you're talking about the Maxwell or the Heisman (or the Maxwell Pundit). He's been the front runner since sometime in the mid-80's, I think, and all he's done in the last few months is throw 10,000 completions for a gazillion yards. Any defenders that might have dared rise up for an interception have been hunted down and stripped of the ball summarily by Robo-Troy, who used his 3.2 second forty time to escape the attention of the officials. He's good and stuff, you know, but quite frankly I'm getting tired of talking about him.
Charles Woodson, anyone?
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| Troy Smith. May be incredible, but he's old news. |
No. 2: Darren McFadden, Humanity Advanced. Can I just second Kyle here?
The S.E.C. championship game was the sixth contest this season in which the Razorback tailback was held below 100 rushing yards, but, against some pretty stout Southeastern defenses, McFadden has tallied 1,558 yards on 265 carries, averaging almost 5.9 yards per rush and scoring 14 touchdowns on the ground . . . none of which takes into account the fact that his eight pass attempts in the "wildcat" formation have yielded six completions and a trio of touchdowns, giving him a 249.35 pass efficiency rating (which is, like, good, or something). There may be no player in the league more crucial to his team's success than McFadden, whose overall contributions to the Arkansas offense I can no longer overlook.
Vol fans have not been overlooking the Ground Hog since November 12, but, uh, what Kyle said.
No. 3: Mike Hart, Michigan. Hart was second on my ballot last week. I moved him down to third just to see if it would send Brian over the edge.
No. 4: Brady Quinn. Poor, poor Brady. Remember Michigan? You know LSU? They're sorta like Michigan. Poor, poor Brady.
No. 5: Colt Brennan. My turn to stop overlooking somebody. Dude's numbers are staggering: 4,990 yards, 53 TDs, and a rating of 182.8. That is all.
Let's hear it for the pseudoephedrine! 1, 2, 3 . . . woot!