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Heisman Trophy top-10 finalists contains big surprise

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated Dec 14, 2024 12:40 PM ET

The Heisman Trophy will be awarded on Saturday night, and we know who the top-10 finalists for the award were. And the top 10 contains a huge surprise.

The top four finalists for the Heisman are in New York City, and that includes Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, Colorado two-way player Travis Hunter, Miami quarterback Cam Ward, and Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel.

On Friday, those who run the Heisman revealed who finished 5-10 in the voting.

Here is the list:

5) Cam Skattebo, RB, Arizona State

6) Bryson Daly, QB, Army

7) Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State

8) Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado

9) Kurtis Rourke, QB, Indiana

10) Kyle McCord, QB, Syracuse

The fifth through 10th spots in the 2024 Heisman balloting were released tonight on The Top 10 Heisman Trophy Finalists Show Presented by @NissanUSA that aired live on @espn. We are now a day away from crowning the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner. #HeismanTrophy #MoreThanATrophy pic.twitter.com/lj4BLhX2Mo

— The Heisman Trophy (@HeismanTrophy) December 14, 2024

So what’s the big surprise? If you look carefully at the list, you’ll notice there is not one player from the SEC. This is the first time since 2005 that no SEC player finished in the top 10 for the Heisman (if you count Texas as part of the SEC). But it’s really the first time since 1984 that’s happened.

That’s shocking considering the SEC produces so many top players and teams. But this year, the Big Ten had more highly ranked teams, and the SEC did not have any statistical standouts. The SEC also disappointed overall.

How did ESPN allow this? Maybe they’ll have to create an SEC Heisman moving forward to address this.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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