2012 Heisman Watch: Can Manti Te’o or Collin Klein pull the upset?

Te’o won the Maxwell Award on Thursday which is given to college football’s best player, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s now the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy. Since 2000, only two players who won the Maxwell Award went on to win the Heisman Trophy. Instead, Manziel remains the heavy favorite to capture the 2012 Heisman.

Manziel has been in the Heisman lead since he led Texas A&M to an upset of then No. 1 Alabama on Nov. 10. Going strictly on stats, it’s easy to make a case for Manziel who accounted for a SEC-record 4,600 total yards. Many analysts expect Manziel to become the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy with at least one predicting him to win by one of the widest margins in recent history.

Te’o stole the show at the college football awards, collecting a record six trophies, but he appears most likely to be runner-up to Manziel. Te’o finished the season with 103 tackles, seven interceptions and is the face of the No. 1 team in the country, but as a defensive player Te’o is fighting the odds. No defensive only player has ever won the Heisman Trophy, especially not one going up against a player with the panache of “Johnny Football.”

Klein, at times, appears to be the forgotten third finalist, but that wasn’t always the case. At one point it was Klein, not Manziel, leading the Heisman Trophy race. KSU’s loss and subsequent fall from No. 1 and out of the national championship picture hurt his chances, but he still turned in an excellent season. Klein accounted for 37 of KSU’s 56 touchdowns leading the Wildcats to an 11-1 season.

The 2012 Heisman Trophy presentation will begin at 8 p.m. ET from the Best Buy Theater in New York. Television coverage will be available on ESPN and online at ESPN3.

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