USC could place unprecedented three finalists in Heisman group

The Men of Troy have been dominating the college football landscape for the last three seasons, and now they're on the verge of placing as many candidates as finalists for the Heisman Trophy. And two tailbacks, no less. That Reggie Bush and LenDale White would have prolific seasons, rushing for better than 1,000 yards and scoring at least 13 touchdowns each would be a remarkable feat on its own. That they've done it on the same team is simply unheard of in today's game.

It's an astonishing acheivement any way you slice it. To factor in how dominant Bush has been week in and week out and think that someone with whom he shares the backfield was just as productive - evern more so, in terms of times having reached the end zone - is amazing.

A couple of schools have had teammates join each other on stage on the day of the awards, most recently Ken Dorsey and Willis McGahee representing Miami in 2002, and last year Adrian Peterson and Jason White (then the reigning winner) AND Bush and eventual winner Matt Leinart for USC. But in those cases, a quarterback joined a tailback, stacking his stats with passing and TDs thrown. Carnell "Cadillac" Williams and Ronnie Brown tore up defenses last year at Auburn, but neither was considered for college football's highest individual honor.

The general consensus is that Bush will lay claim to this year's trophy, and that Leinart's just as deserving, so while White won't get the ultimate prize, it will be well earned national recognition for a phenomenal year.

One of the best things I like about ESPN's coverage of the Heisman presentation is showing the finalists all hang out at build friendships with players they'd normally never meet. Last year was significant because one of the subplots was that Bush and Utah's Alex Smith were high school teammates. At least three of the guys this year could share the lifelong camraderie of wearing the same colors.

We should mark this year, because this could be truly historic.