Heisman Trophy Presentation Preview: Johnny Manziel the Overwhelming Favorite

Heisman Trophy Presentation, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN

College football is about upsets, and 2012 had more than its fair share of them. But if Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel somehow doesn't win the Heisman Trophy win the award ceremony ends Saturday night -- well, that will be perhaps the largest upset of them all.

It's very hard to find anyone who honestly thinks that either of the other two finalists -- Notre Dame's Manti Te'o or Kansas State's Collin Klein -- have much of a chance at the award. Good luck finding an even money bet that Manziel will be the winner, much less one that would make your dollars worth the investment. And you'll need even more luck finding a Heisman forecaster of any type who doesn't think Manziel will be holding the hardware at the end of the evening.

That's, of course, a decision that we here at Team Speed Kills heartily agree with. There are some quibbles about who should be a finalist, but those are minor quibbles that don't get at the heart of the award.

And there will be some support for Te'o or Klein. Older voters will likely be hesitant to go with Manziel because he's a freshman, and freshman Heisman Trophy winners are just not done, for whatever reason. And there are a few journalists out there who like to show their contrarian streak, the fact that they are smarter than all of us, by picking someone unappreciated by the rabble for a spot on their ballot. But the overwhelming majority of voters will have Manziel on their ballots, and many will have him first.

Enough so that there isn't much suspense to tonight's ceremony -- despite the Heisman's reported attempt to crack down on media members who release their ballots. When the result is this clear and already baked in, there's no room for upsets. There's just the inevitable crowning of the best player in college football.