In all reality, not a single one of these players has a legitimate shot at winning the 2012 Heisman Trophy. But that doesn't mean these guys don't deserve some consideration.

How tough is it for the small-school stud to win the Heisman? Consider no one has won it from a non-BCS school since BYU's Ty Detmer in 1990. In 1989, Houston's Andre Ware won the honor. Those are your only two non-BCS winners in the modern era.

So don't go off and bet any serious dough on any of these players, but here's a quick lesson on why they are reasonable options for the Heisman.

Tyler Tettleton, QB, Ohio

Tettleton, the son of former Major Leaguer Mickey Tettleton, is so good he convinced an old-school coach like Frank Solich to go with a no-huddle offense.

Tettleton threw for 3,302 yards and 28 touchdowns in leading Ohio to a 10-4 record, including a win Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

He's not Denard Robinson, but Tettleton is still a dual-threat guy. He rushed for 658 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore.

UPDATE: Auburn police officials say they're engaged in an "active manhunt" for suspect Desmontay Leonard, 22,  of Montgomery, Ala.

Here is the raw feed of the Press Conference as well.

ORIGINAL STORY:

What was a rumor on social media last night was confirmed to multiple outlets this morning, as two ex-Auburn football players, Ed Christian and Ladarious Phillips, were shot dead at an off-campus party. Current Tigers offensive lineman Erick Mack was shot as well and is currently in the hospital recovering.

According to reports, the alleged shooter has no affiliation with the Auburn football program. As many as seven people were shot in the incident, according to reports.

All three players were part of the Tigers 2010 recruiting class. Christian had suffered a series of back injuries that forced him to leave the program. Phillips had given up the game this past spring.  Mack has been thought to be a candidate for playing in the rotation for the offensive line this fall.

The Auburn Police Department will have more information at a 1 p.m. CT press conference, which can be seen live here.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families at this time and we wish those recovering a speedy and full recovery from this horrible tragedy. 

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We've come to the end of Heisman Week here at CBR. There's only one thing left to on our plate: Picking the winner.

So, who's it going to be, fellas?

David Purdum: Matt Barkley.

The Trojans will likely be favored in each of their games.

What makes up a Heisman Trophy contender? Looking  at just the past five winners (Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, Mark Ingram, Cam Newton and Robert Griffin), it seems quarterback is the best option. In fact, in the past ten years, a quarterback has won it eight times.

Of those four quarterback winners, three were  running threats, with Sam Bradford being the slowest of the bunch yet still rushing for 5 touchdowns his winning season. Finally, the last three winners were coming off of either lackluster or non-existent previous seasons.

So, looking for an athletic quarterback who flashed greatness but has yet to hit his peak?  Heisman voters/fans, meet Clemson's Tajh Boyd. And NFL scouts, get to know him too, because he could be this year's surprisingly improved quarterback like Robert Griffin and Cam Newton were the past two years.

Boyd may not be firmly on the national scene as one of college football's top quarterbacks, but Boyd certainly fit that mold out of high school. A consensus Top 60 overall player and Top 5 prep quarterback. The two time state champion finished with a 43-2 record, including playing with a torn ACL throughout his senior year championship run.

That experience in both high pressure situations and without being mobile could prove crucial to both his redshirt junior season as well as his pro potential. For being a first year starter after a situational 2010 season behind Kyle Parker, Boyd really thrived in Chad Morris's balanced yet productive offense. A 3800+ yard season with 33 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions, Boyd consistently brought big plays to the offense...with his arm. he had 50 20+ yard completions last year, which accounted for 10% of his passes.

It’s the age old Heisman Trophy debate - Are you voting for the best player or for the player with the best season?  That simple debate has caused many a stir when it comes to who should win the Heisman Trophy and it’s made for great sports debate on TV and amongst sports fans nationwide.

So far during Heisman Week here on Crystal Ball Run we’ve taken a look into the future, well today it’s finally time to take a visit to the past - the past 10 years that is.

Over the past 10 years the Heisman Trophy has seen just about everything - from historic beat downs (Troy Smith in ‘06) to vacated wins (Reggie Bush in ‘05) and of course a ton of controversy in between the lines.  It got me thinking, who over the past decade really was screwed out of the Heisman Trophy.  Well, I’ve only come up with four legitimate cases for “Screwjob of the Past Decade” and I’ve ranked them in order from the least to the biggest screwjob for your viewing pleasure.

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Three sports writers in their mid-20s—none with any professional oddsmaking experience—set point spreads for every college football, all 798 of them, this week.

On behalf of college football fans everywhere, we thank them.

The list from the fabulous sports betting site Beyond the Bets includes everything from Alabama at LSU (-3) to Texas-San Antonio at South Alabama (-1.5).

It was a grueling process that began back in February, when the trio began figuring how many games each of the 124 FBS teams would win. Each oddsmaker was assigned a handful of conferences to breakdown. There was no complex formula or computer database. A giant google doc was passed around with evolving power ratings. And way too much candy was consumed during the four-day sprint to the finish. 

“I went through four boxes of Raisinets,” one member of the Beyond the Bets editorial staff admitted to Crystal Ball Run. 

Making Oklahoma a 10-point home favorite against Notre Dame (Oct. 27) wasn’t nearly as difficult as deciding that Northern Illinois should be a 26 ½-point favorite over UMass, the editor added

But mistakes won’t cost Beyond The Bets millions. These lines, as they say, are for entertainment purposes only. And they are certainly entertaining fodder to debate and discuss as the slow summer sports season approaches.

For instance, Florida State is favored by 56.5 over Savannah State, the largest spread of any game.

The Seminoles, LSU, Oklahoma and Southern Cal are the four BCS teams Beyond the Bets projects to be favored in each of their games. Wouldn't be a bad little four-team playoff, would it?

No BCS team is an underdog in all of its games, but Duke, Kansas, Indiana, Arizona State and Kentucky are projected as dogs in each of their conference games.

Some other big-game point spread projections from Beyond the Bets:

Sept. 22

Clemson at Florida State -9.5

Oct. 6

LSU -4 at Florida

Georgia at South Carolina -4

Oct. 13

Texas vs. Oklahoma -4

Oct. 20

Michigan State at Michigan -6.5

Nov. 3

Oregon at USC -6

Nov. 24

Auburn at Alabama -16.5

Michigan at Ohio State -4

Notre Dame at USC -14.5

Note: The sportsbook at the Las Vegas Golden Nugget will release lines on approximately 100 college football games on Monday. Check back at Crystal Ball Run for a complete run down.

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Welcome to Friday folks. Yes, we made it through another week, which means that we move just a little bit closer to the start of the college football season, and that's a good thing. Before we go any further, do yourself (and us) a favor and make sure you are following us on Twitter, and give our brand new Facebook page a Like!

How much would you pay for the head coaching services of Dabo Swinney? Clemson will pay $1.9 million (plus incentives). Many scoff at the price tag for Dabo, but consider that this gives the coach a little extra recruiting swag when he can say how much support he has behind him through 2017.

Georgia also finalized their contract extension details with Mark Richt. Richt wil not receive a raise n salary but he will be under contract through 2016. While that may seem unrewarding for Richt, he does have the option to walk away from the job at any time, and not owe the school a dime. Athletics director Greg McGarity also received an extension through 2017.

Heisman Week continues on Crystal Ball Run. Yesterday we took a look at non-BCS players who will be mentioned at one time or another and the evolution of the Heisman Trophy from being dominated by running backs to quarterbacks.

Landry Jones may have fewer weapons at his disposal as Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops has stripped two wide receivers, Jaz Reynolds and Trey Franks, of their scholarships, according to reports. A third wide receiver, Kameel Jackson, must earn back his scholarship following the summer semester. Defensive back Quentin Hayes has had his scholarship pulled, too.

All three are no longer attending the University of Oklahoma after what's being described as "violations of team rules." Apparently, Bob Stoops isn't playing around as he clearly stated to the press in attendance at the OU Caravan event in Tulsa last night that he is moving on with plans that don't include them.

It's a bit of a fresh air approach to a generation that has seen coaches excuse bad player behavior in increasing numbers in the pursuit of the almighty win.

The biggest name gone is unquestionably Jaz Reynolds, who was a returning starter from a year ago. Reynolds contributed 715 yards on 41 catches in 2011, but he also missed 3 games. Franks was to be a junior backup who caught 22 passes last season and had 53 receptions for his career in Norman.

Three Heisman Trophy winning quarterbacks from the state of Florida in five years signaled the beginning of the evolution of the award and the quarterback position.

Earlier this week, which is Heisman Week at Crystal Ball Run, we took a quick look at the odds for who will win the most prestigious award in sports this fall. USC quarterback Matt Barkley comes in as your money favorite this year at 3/1. This should come as little surprise, not because Barkley will take the field in a couple of months as one of the top players in the game, but because he is a quarterback, and quarterbacks dominate the Heisman races these days.

It used to be that the Heisman Trophy was an individual award dominated by running backs. From the first year the Heisman Trophy was presented, in 1935, through 1983 a running back was the Heisman winner 35 times (including players who played multiple positions). Running backs had won 12 consecutive Heisman Trophy awards before Boston College's Doug Flutie snapped the streak in 1984. Since then only eight running backs have won the most recognized individual award in college football.

Much like the game itself, the Heisman Trophy has evolved to become an award made for the quarterback. Since Florida State's Chris Weinke won the Heisman Trophy in 2000, all but two Heisman Trophy winners have played quarterback (USC's Reggie Bush and Alabama's Mark Ingram). It is certainly not because running backs have dropped off in talent over the years, but so much attention is given to the quarterbacks in the college and professional game. And this happened well before Tim Tebow.

Ty's mystical "lady friend" unlocks the dark spirits.

Little known fact: We actually have a crystal ball.

Yup, we use it on occasion for personal reasons. This year, though, we've cleared up the legalese and turned it loose on college football's 2012 regular season. If a greater challenge exists for a mystical predictive device, we'd like to see it.

Over the coming weeks, we'll be giving you a glimpse into the future, as we travel, week-by-week, through all the big games. As with any epic journey, let's start at the beginning: Week One.

AUGUST 31ST, 8:00 PM ET - BOISE STATE AT MICHIGAN STATE

Where have you gone, Kellen Moore and Kirk Cousins? Gone are the fruitful eras of quarterbacking at Boise State and Michigan State, as Moore and Cousins have moved on. Now it's all on Joe Southwick and Andrew Maxwell, respectively, to carry the torches into 2012 and beyond. Who? Even our crystal ball isn't sure. Something about "Southwick and Maxwell" sounds more like a law firm, and might play like one, too.