With the 2010-2011 NCAA football betting season coming to an end it is now time to consider the contenders for the Heisman Trophy. The Heisman Trophy is the ultimate individual prize in college football betting as the nation’s top player is recognized for his accomplishments. Here are three players from the Pac 10 that should be considered legitimate contenders for the Heisman.

1. Jeff Maehl WR Oregon – Being on the nation’s top team has its flaws, as Jeff Maehl has essentially flown under the radar on the Heisman watch list. Although his statistics put him in the middle of the pack nationally, Maehl has arguably become the best wide receiver to come out of the Pac 10 in quite some time. His 830 yards and 11 touchdown catches rank him as the top receiver in the Pac 10.

2. Matt Barkley QB USC – Barkley is one of a slew of quarterbacks that has absolutely dominated the NCAA football landscape this season. Furthermore, Barkley has become a bright spot for the Trojans who thanks to NFL star Reggie Bush, will not be attending a Bowl game even with their strong play this season.

As it currently stands, Barkley is fourth in touchdown passes in the nation with 25 and his 2518 passing yards has him ranked as second in the Pac 10. However, due to the Bowl Game sanctions thanks to Bush, Barkley will likely be overlooked for Heisman honors.

3. Darron Thomas QB Oregon – Thomas is both the second quarterback and second Oregon Duck to make this list of Heisman hopefuls. Nevertheless, Thomas has had big shoes to fill the entire season as many critics believed the Oregon Ducks were in rough shape with the loss of Jeremiah Masoli to Ole Miss. Thomas has become the next Tim Tebow in that he is the star of a stacked team.

Those same critics, who felt that Oregon was in for a rough ride without Masoli, now turn their attention to Thomas. If he is overlooked for the Heisman not only will it be an injustice, but the reasoning will be terrible. Essentially it is believed by many critics that the only reason Thomas is putting up such strong numbers is the team around him. When in reality the team around him is putting up strong numbers because of him.

Through the first nine weeks of the NCAA football betting season, the top 25 teams have been anything but predictable. From Alabama’s fall from the top to Michigan coming back to life after week five, college football betting sites are having a difficult time determining which two teams will play in the BCS National Title game. Here is our projection.

BCS National Championship Game: Oregon Ducks v Auburn Tigers

This year’s BCS National Title game will feature two teams that many are considering to have overachieved. To start the season, teams like the Ohio State Buckeyes and Alabama Crimson Tide were thought of as serious contenders for the BCS title. However, over the last few weeks, each squad has been defeated while at the number one position.

On the contrary, comes Oregon and Auburn, two teams that weren’t expected to do much this season. Oregon, who is currently ranked number one in the nation, was expected to have quite a difficult season as they lost Jeremiah Masoli to suspension and subsequent transfer.

Instead, Oregon has put together an undefeated season thus far, and their defense which was thought of as the Achilles heel of the club has been amazing. What’s more, going into Southern California to take on the likes of UCLA and USC is no easy task. However, Oregon made both surfing schools, feel like they collided with a Tsunami.

Meanwhile, over at Auburn, the Tigers have put together perhaps one of the quietest undefeated seasons ever. While most critics are now counting down the days until the Auburn Tigers are defeated, we believe they have what it takes to make a run to the BCS Title Game.

How many other schools do you know go in as a higher ranked seed then Alabama and are considered the underdog?

One of the most enjoyable aspects of betting on college football is in regards to the projections of bowl games. As many NCAA football betting fans will tell you, the bowl game selection process is both predictable and out of the blue. But nevertheless, here are four projections for this season’s bowl games.

• South Carolina Game Cocks vs. Michigan Wolverines Gator Bowl – Two week one winners, who haven’t played in a bowl game in sometime. We think Michigan and Coach Rich Rodriguez finally make it to a Bowl game after rebuilding for the last couple of years. Historically, the Gator Bowl is played against the sixth place team in the SEC and the fourth or fifth team in the Big Ten. Denard Robinson looked great in week one but so did the Gamecocks defense. This game potentially has the makings for a tight game.

• Capital One Bowl Florida Gators vs. Wisconsin Badgers – The Capital One Bowl has the potential to be the unofficial championship game, as the Florida Gators with Brantley at quarterback, take on the ever dangerous Wisconsin Badgers. Although Tim Tebow left for the NFL, Brantley at quarterback should be just as good, although not National game worthy.

• Sugar Bowl Boise State Broncos vs. Alabama Crimson Tide – As one of the top five BCS games, both schools will receive an astounding 17 million just for participating in the game. Nevertheless, similar to that of the Capital One Bowl, fans are spoiled by another unofficial national title game. The up and coming Broncos will look to take on a Crimson Tide team, which may miss out on the national title game due to the ongoing injury of star running back Mark Ingram.

• BCS Title Game Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers – Along with a potential Heisman nomination, we expect Terrell Pryor to lead the Buckeyes to a national title game. Will they beat the Cornhuskers? That remains to be seen.

This weekend college football betting gets underway as the start of the regular season takes place. One of the marquee matchups this coming Saturday that many NCAA football betting fans have their eyes on is the Southern Miss vs. Southern Carolina game.

On paper Southern Carolina should absolutely destroy Southern Miss. Whether you look at coaching, offensive lines, running backs, wide receivers and so on, Southern Carolina has a far better look to them than their Golden Eagles opponents.

Yet nevertheless, what may in fact be Southern Miss’s saving grace is that both clubs are about equal at quarterback. Quarterbacks on both sides of the game will be looking to finally take control of the number one pivot position. Last season, Southern Miss was led by the emergence of Martevious Young. The only trouble was the other quarterback for the Golden Eagles Austin Davis, was equally as skilled.

Conversely, Southern Carolina has continuously shown strides in moving on up the AP rankings into the top 10 schools in the country. The only difficulty for them is that neither Stephen Garcia nor Connor Shaw has appeared mature enough to run the Carolina offense.

South Carolina is the odds on favorite to win as a result of how well they rank on paper. But one should keep in mind when taking the underdog Golden Eagles, that Carolina definitely has its weaknesses. For instance, with both of South Carolina’s linebackers leaving for the NFL, it will allow both Young and Davis to utilize their speed against an inexperienced secondary unit.

What’s more, the Golden Eagles may stand a chance, because of their underdog status. More often than not in college football, fans will get frustrated, as their teams tend to look past the tasks at hand. In week two for example, South Carolina plays Georgia. As a result they may not play as hard against Southern Miss this week, leading to a loss.