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Mike Gundy would openly weep to have this fella coming out of his backfield.

WHEN IT COMES TO THE BEST HEISMAN WINNERS, HOW CAN YOU IGNORE BARRY SANDERS IN 1988?

[Ed's note: Not sure what All-World Power Rankings is? Please click here.]

We've been a little obsessed with the Heisman Trophy of late. Some thoughts: (1) if you're a college coach right now, you gotta have at least one assistant permanently assigned to "high school QBs in Texas," right? (see: Graham Harrell, Colt McCoy and recent contenders like Chase Daniel, Matthew Stafford and Todd Reesing); (2) this race seems fairly wide-open, no? and (3) could Tim Tebow "pull an Archie?" We like it when things are confusing, because that means they're interesting too. (Like romance!) Because of our Heisman-track mind, we decided to rank the best Heisman winners ever. Since this list has been made 10,000 times by 100,000 people over time, we added a wrinkle. (We're smart.) On every entry, we included a sidebar discussion you should debate with your friends. See, we're even helping you socialize!

TOP 5
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	1 (14)	BARRY SANDERS (1988)	This is almost a no-brainer. Sanders backed up Thurman Thomas the year before, but in '88 he busted out for over 2,600 yards and 39 touchdowns. If you include bowl game stats, he scored forty-four touchdowns. Courtesy Scout.Com, we learn that if you put Sanders '88 into the 2006 college football season, he would have finished fifth among teams. Sidebar for Sanders: who is the most relevant person in Okie State history—him, T. Boone Pickens, Garth Brooks or Gary Busey?
	2 (410)	MARCUS ALLEN (1981)	He beat out Herschel Walker in probably Walker's best college season (Walker won the award the next year, though). Allen was college football's first 2,000-yard rusher in 1981. Sidebar for Allen: is his run against the Redskins in the Super Bowl the best play in SB history, or did Manning-to-Tyree put it to shame?
	3 (21)	MIKE ROZIER (1983)	Man, remember when Nebraska used to be awesome? Rozier averaged 7.8 yards per carry in 1983 en route to finding the end zone 29 times. He went over 100 yards every single game. Awesome. Sidebar for Rozier: did his ankle injury in the 1984 Orange Bowl doom his pro career?
	4 (127)	DANNY WUERFFEL (1996)	His biggest argument was UF's schedule that season: they played No. 2 Florida State twice, No. 2 Tennessee, No. 11 Alabama, No. 12 Arkansas, etc. Point being: the SEC is brutal, even then. Wuerffel's pass rating was 170.6 and he tossed 39 touchdowns. Sidebar for Wuerffel: is he the pre-eminent example of "being made better by a coach who played the same position?"
	5 (899)	ARCHIE GRIFFIN (1974)	This was his first one. Honestly, people have had better seasons than this (close to 1,700 yards and 12 TD, 6.6 yards per carry) but you gotta slot Griffin high on these lists, because he does have two of the stiff armers. Sidebar for Griffin: best Buckeye tailback ever? (That oughta get heated!)

HONORABLE MENTION
RANK (YESTERDAY)		WHAT	WHY
	18 (144)	O.J. SIMPSON (1968)	Too soon? Seriously, though, this guy could run in college. His margin of victory over Purdue's Leroy Keyes was 2,853 points to 1,103. Sidebar for Simpson: uh, we don't know what to say here.
	28 (701)	DESMOND HOWARD (1991)	We're homers. Eh, we just wanted to link this. Sidebar for Howard: what's a better call—Keith Jackson's "Hello Heisman!" or Brent Musburger's "You can put Mr. Heisman in a box and mail it to Columbus, OH!" for Troy Smith in 2006?

RISING AND FALLING
MOVEMENT		WHAT
		WHOEVER IS ABOUT TO WIN IT (Duh. Sidebar: is this year the latest it's been undetermined ever?)
		CHARLIE WARD (Was the '93 Heisman the weirdest ever? Winner played in the NBA. Runner-up is a Congressman!)

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