It took entirely too long for him to get the recognition he deserved, partyly because of an ill-fated push to get Russell Wilson in the top-5, but Montee Ball finally got the nod as one of the Top 5 Heisman finalists today.
Ball is one touchdown away from trying Barry Sanders' record for the most touchdowns scored by any NCAA football player*
Despite the fact that Ball won the Big Ten Running Back of the Year and that he is so close to breaking the record, Ball hasn't been on anybody's list and has gotten no love from national media, especially ESPN, who doens't even have him in the discussion.
And that's damn ridiculous. The fact that folks are legitimately picking Alabama's Trent Richardson while not even talking about Ball is ludicrous.
Richardson is not even in the top 5 in all of the NCAA for rushing. He has 200 less yards then Ball. Montee Ball has 12 more carries than Richardson - and 12 more TOUCHDOWNS!
Montee Ball leads all of the NCAA in Total Points scored with 230 points. The guy in second place has 156! Richardson has 138 - Nearly 100 points less.
Ball averages .4 more yards/carry than Richardson.
Yet Richardson has long been considered a legit contender for the Heisman where Ball has barely been mentioned.
It's absolutely fabulous that Ball was put in the Top 5 and is getting invited to New York. He deserves the honor.
I have some friends who write a very prominent Alabama blog who questioned my support of Ball over Richardson, saying that Alabama faces much tougher defenses, which accounted for Richardson's relative lack of production in respect to Ball.
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However, the math doesn't support that claim.
I have friends that write Roll Bama Roll, the SBNation Bama blog.
Using USA Today's list of Total Team Defense, I figured out the average Total Team Defense of Bama's opponents and Wisconsin's opponents. Each team is missing the calculation of one opponent - Georgia Southern for Bama and South Dakota for Wisconsin - because they are FCS schools and not listed on USA Today's list. So that's equal.
Bama's opponents' average was 347.78 yards, or an average rank of 41
Wisconsin's opponents' average was 361.65, or an average rank of 52.
The teams has one common opponent: Penn State.
Richardson had 26 carries, 111 yds, 2 TDs, 4.3 avg, 22 long
Ball had 25 carries 156 yds, 4 TDs, 6.2 avg, 28 long
