At this point, the race seems all but over barring some sort of egregious blow-up in the Mythical National Championship game.  Other players had their shot, but Smith helped to lay waste to one of their chances, while the combined efforts of Rhema McKnight and Casey Dick's treachery sealed the fates of two others.  

Despite the fact this has become an exercise in who deserves second place, your voters for this week's award:

DawgSports
SundayMorningQB
Deadspin
ConquestChronicles
BurntOrangeNation
BruinsNation
TrojanWire
RockyTopTalk
The Morning After
UDubDish
Rakes of Mallow

1) Troy Smith, Quarterback, The Ohio State University

"Smith's season is over and while he anxiously awaits to see who will be playing Ohio State in Glendale, Mr. Smith has a small trip to make to NYC for some shopping, dining, dancing and one other thing that I can't seem to remember... Well maybe its nothing. If it's important they can just send it to him." - ConquestChronicles

"Still concerned Smith is boosted on hype at least as much production. It's just not worth it anymore, though, to try to justify his placement further down the list by some outraged Buckeye partisan aghast at the brazen the lunacy of considering Smith's performance this season only the third or fourth-best in the nation. Simply can't justify anyone else here. SMQ to date has largely fought the notion of inevitability that's driven Smith's campaign since the win at Texas in September, rather than his actual merits, which have kept him in the discussion in the face of backlash. The numbers are great but not elite (67 percent completion, 2,500 yards, 6-1 TD-INT ratio) and still leave him vulnerable to the pack depending on Smith's efforts in the mythical championship, but again, there are inconsistencies, stat/production problems and questions about competition for every other possible name. And none of them have Smith's clutch performances in probably the season's two biggest games." - SMQ

Ballot watchdog for the lone first place dissenter ends up on...me?  Well, yes, but I have Smith second so it's not like I'm severely underrating the Best Player on the Best Team in the Country.  Troy Smith might be the best player at the table, but he also sat down with the most chips, easily able to cover up any inadequacies with two burners on the outside and a dual-tailback threat that did things to Michigan nobody had done all season.  Smith is the consummate professional, dishing out touchdown passes to whoever is open and jogging happily back to the sideline, and for that cool efficiency and undefeated record, he'll most likely be crowned our award winner.

2) Darren McFadden, Tailback/Quarterback/Punt returner/Kick returner, Arkansas

"I believe this is the first time we are including a name on this list following his team's loss. But if you caught one Arkansas game this season it'd be hard to argue against the assertion that he is one of the most electrifying offensive weapon in the country." - BruinsNation

- RockyTopTalk

Over the last month, McFadden has ran it in on many occasions, tossed a touchdown pass and returned both punts and kick-offs.  He's half-man, half-amazing, and if he had someone resembling a quarterback on his team, perhaps the Razorbacks are still in the national title hunt.  Loses some love for the lackluster beginning of the season, but still potentially has two huge games left to make that final push, but the margin is a very large one.

3) Mike Hart, Tailback, Michigan

"Hart has had a solid season all year and he carried his fair share of the load against Ohio State. Will he get another chance? We'll see after this weekend. Regardless he has put himself ahead of most D-1 RB's this season and has shown he is a workhorse."
ConquestChronicles

"Hart did everything he could rushing for almost 150 yards and 3 TDs (averaging over 6 yards per carry) in the biggest game of this football season. It wasn't enough. But I think he made a pretty effective case of being the second best college football players in the country. - BruinsNation

The picture of consistency for what might be the second-best team in the country this season, Hart got flashy against Ohio State in an attempt to keep the Wolverines in the game when they're defense couldn't stop the leader of this little poll no matter how hard they tried.  Got to see how hard he is to bring down in person earlier this season, and it's amazing how a little guy packs such a big wallop.  Probably won't get another shot at the Buckeyes, but the LSU or Florida defense might get a huge test before the BCS season is over.

4) Brady Quinn, Quarterback, Notre Dame

"Notre Dame is about as overrated as a bulimic supermodel, but Quinn is frankly a damn good quarterback. Despite getting tarred and feathered by USC, Quinn threw for about 300 yards and three scores. He didn't get picked off." - UDubDish

"Humbling defeat for the Irish against USC last week, but don't blame Quinn, who kept poking his head into the fray even after repeated bonks on the noggin.  Account for all of the drops and red zone difficulties, and Quinn still finished the game 22 of 45 for 274 yards and three TDs." - RockyTopTalk

Just wasn't meant to be, as the Irish offense fell flat in their two biggest games of the season.  Quinn still has gaudy numbers and certainly did his part in an effort to defeat the Trojans, but his offensive line and ~RHEMA MCKNIGHT~ let him down in a game where the Notre Dame offense was keeping pace with Southern Cal before things got all one-dimensional.  

5) Ian Johnson, Tailback, Boise State

"Don't get me wrong; I'm as impressed as anybody with the Razorbacks' Darren McFadden, whom I saw play live and in person last season. However, the Hogs' star tailback has "only" tallied 1,485 yards and 14 touchdowns this season, despite his having had a pair of 180-yard, two-T.D. games in his last three outings. Johnson, meanwhile, has gained 128 more yards and scored 10 more touchdowns, despite having just nine more carries than McFadden . . . and that does not even take into account the fact that Johnson missed the Utah State game altogether. While the Bronco running back's yards per carry average has declined in each of the last five games in which he has appeared, Johnson gained at least 136 yards on the ground in each of those contests while reaching the end zone 14 times in those 300 minutes of play. Even though he has lost playing time to injury, Johnson is getting stronger as the season progresses and he has established himself as Division I-A's top tailback." - DawgSports

"Remember this kid went out against San Jose State after he was hospitalized with a collapsed lung he suffered sometime during the game. His status for BSU's last game against Utah State was up in the air. He sat out that game but came back this past weekend to rush 147 yards and 3 TDs in Broncos destruction of Nevada. I am excited to see this kid in a BCS bowl game. Great stuff." - BruinsNation

He knits hats!  He punctures lungs!  He runs all over everybody he plays!  It's Ian Johnson, ladies and gentlemen, and Kyle has been riding his bright blue train the entire season.  An undefeated regular season equals sombreros against either Nebraska or Oklahoma, and why he might not get the same credit for running through them as he would trying to light up the Longhorns, there's still great progress to be made by this sophomore phenom.

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