Now that we have the finalists for the Heisman Trophy I just have to say, wow did the voters get it wrong.  I know that no one really separated themselves from the pack but three players I had in my top five for the award didn’t even get an invite to New York.  That means they finished anywhere from seven on down.

In case you missed the announcement, quarterbacks Jameis Winston, AJ McCarron, Jordan Lynch and Johnny Manziel got invited to the ceremony as well as running backs Andre Williams and Tre Mason.

First of all, Tre Mason and AJ McCarron should not even come close to sniffing New York.  McCarron is nothing more than a game manager on a great team.  The reason he is there is because of his life time accomplishments and not at all because of what he did this season.  Tre Mason on the other hand, didn’t have a good enough start to the season to make a case for himself.  The only reason he made it was because of what he did in the last two game of the season when the brightest spotlight was on.  The problem for Mason is he only rushed for 100 yards in three of his team’s first eight games.  Add in the fact that he had the benefit of another game to pad his stats and you can see why Mason should be at home preparing for Florida State and not in New York on Saturday.

I have no problem having a guy like Jordan Lynch at the party just so he can be recognized but if that is what is being done then why not invite the best quarterback from a smaller conference.  His name is Derek Carr.  Just like Lynch, Carr made a run at the BCS before a late season loss derailed things.  The difference is that Carr actually won his conference title.  Even though Carr only had the benefit of 12 games, (they had a game cancelled against Colorado early in the season and never rescheduled) he threw for a FBS leading 4,866 yards and 48 touchdowns with only seven interceptions.  he also completed 70.1 percent of his passes which is remarkable when you consider he attempted the second most passes in the FBS this year.

The other two guys in my top five that got totally hosed by the Heisman voters are two quarterbacks from great teams.  They are Bryce Petty of Baylor and Marcus Mariota of Oregon.

I don’t know how they got left out but it is just silly.  Petty was the best quarterback in a tough Big 12 and put up monster number all season long for a team who lost two of its best offensive players mid way through the season.  Even without Seastrunk and Reese, Petty still led the Bears to 11 wins and a Big 12 title.  Petty threw for more than 3,800 yards and 30 touchdowns to only two interceptions while scoring 11 touchdowns on the ground.

Mariota was also dominant when he was healthy throwing 30 touchdowns himself with only four picks.  he threw for more than 3,400 yards as well as rushing for just under 600 yards and nine touchdowns on only 81 carries.  What hurt Mariota was the Ducks’ loss to Arizona late in the season, but Oregon still finished the season with a 10-2 record and should’ve had a spot in the BCS.

Some how, fans and voters alike forget that this award is not based on how your team does.  It’s an individual award that should go to the most outstanding college player each season.  We have to let personal biases and all the media hype out of our minds when we try to figure that out.  I think without highlight shows and hype machines voters would do a better job of that.

There is no question in my mind that Petty, Mariota and Carr should be in New York this weekend and I hope that I’m not the only one who sees it as a huge problem that they are not.