Once upon a time, before the Internet, 24-hour sports talk radio stations and over-hyped media campaigns, the Heisman Trophy actually might have been presented to the most deserving candidate.

Over time, college football's most prestigious award has evolved into a popularity contest, with the winner often being the best player on the best team, not necessarily the most deserving player.

That's why the prediction here is that Alabama running back Mark Ingram will win this year's Heisman Trophy in a season when there was no truly dominant player.

Ingram is the most recognizable player on the nation's top-ranked team that will play Texas in the BCS championship game. His performance in last week's SEC championship game against Florida (113 rushing yards and three touchdowns) certainly didn't hurt his chances.

Here's how we see the Heisman race finishing:

1. Mark Ingram, Alabama
2. Colt McCoy, Texas
3. Toby Gerhart, Texas
4. Tim Tebow, Florida
5. Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska

-- McCoy could be the sentimental favorite, with some voters choosing him as sort of a lifetime achievement honor. A starter since his freshman year, McCoy is the winningest quarterback in NCAA history and will be playing in the national championship game after guiding the Longhorns to a 13-0 season. Still, his numbers dropped off down the stretch.

-- Gerhart may be the best story in college football this season and would be our pick if we had a vote. He ended up leading the nation in rushing (1,736) and touchdowns (26). We're still not sure, however, that he's enough of a household name to overtake Ingram and McCoy.

-- Tebow is trying to join former Ohio State standout Archie Griffin as the only two-time winners of the Heisman. However, Florida's loss to Alabama in the SEC championship likely ended his chances - unless a lot of voters sent in their ballots before last week's game. Hopefully, not too many did. It would be irresponsible.

-- Suh had a monster game in last week's Big 12 title game against Texas, but no player who plays strictly defense ever has won the Heisman. It would be stunning if that trend didn't continue.

The final voting totals certainly will be interesting because there is not a clear-cut favorite.