It seems as though regardless of what happens the remainder of the college football season, the name Andrew Luck is destined to be engraved in this year’s Heisman trophy award. The Stanford quarterback is already the heavy sports betting favorite to take that honor, and despite the fact that there are several college stars that should be on the radar, it seems as though the national spotlight remains on the player many are projecting will be the first overall pick in next year’s NFL draft.

While Luck certainly deserves recognition with 2,937 passing yards and 31 touchdowns, those numbers have come against relatively weak defensive units from the PAC-12. Consider the way in which last year’s Oregon Ducks dominated until they reached the BCS national title game and were stymied by Auburn, and then again this year in their opener against LSU. The SEC is considered the elite conference in college football and rightfully so, and when there are players producing at the top level, and putting up even bigger numbers than Luck, then it makes sense to look elsewhere for the Heisman. Alabama running back Trent Richardson is carrying the Crimson Tide offense with an incredible 1380 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns against some of those defenses, and they’re only loss came in overtime against the No. 1 and currently undefeated LSU Tigers. Meanwhile, there are 18 quarterbacks with more passing yards than Luck as the season winds down, including Houston quarterback Case Keenum and Oklahoma State’s Brandon Weeden, which are two integral pieces of winning teams, including most notably Weeden, who has helped No. 4 Oklahoma State to a 10-1 record. It seems as though the pay head critics have already determined that Luck will be the Heisman winner and next year’s first round pick regardless of what happens the rest of the way. That doesn’t mean that he deserves it.