Not since 1980 has there been a Heisman party-crasher like Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick.

Michael Vick is making the biggest freshman splash since Herschel Walker.(AP)

That was when Georgia's Herschel Walker rushed for 1,616 yards and 15 touchdowns, placing third in the Heisman balloting. Vick was five months old. And Walker was a freshman.

Since then, a freshman hasn't even gotten a sniff of college football's biggest prize -- and none had ever been accorded an expenses-paid trip to the Downtown Athletic Club of New York for the award ceremonies … until Vick.

He won't win, but that's not the point. In a drama-free race (you don't think someone besides Ron Dayne is going to win, do you?), Vick has added a splash of excitement to the proceedings, just as he has spiced up this season with his instantaneous arrival.

Even as a freshman, Vick deserves to be in New York City -- he finished fourth in SportsLine's Heisman rankings -- and, besides, as they say at all awards shows, just being nominated is an honor.

For sure, it puts Vick in elite company.

At the 65th presentation of the Heisman Trophy on Saturday, Vick will become just the seventh freshman -- and the first freshman quarterback -- ever to finish in the Top 10 in the voting.

Good omen for Vick: All three of the recognized freshmen in the post-World War II era went on to outstanding pro careers. Here's a glance at all of the fab freshmen:

Conference of champions

That's how the Pac-10 likes to bill itself -- and it's true enough when you take softball, swimming, tennis, etc. into the mix. When it comes to Heismans, the Big Ten was big daddy in the 1990s.

Ron Dayne will become the fourth Big Ten winner this decade. The others:

• Desmond Howard, Michigan, 1991
• Eddie George, Ohio State, 1995
• Charles Woodson, Michigan, 1997

With four winners, the Big Ten would have twice as many as any other conference this decade. The SEC, generally considered the nation's best conference, has had but one. The complete breakdown (with teams listed according to their current conference affiliation):

• Big Ten (3): Howard, George, Woodson
• Big 12 (2): Ricky Williams (Texas, 1998), Rashaan Salaam (Colorado, 1994)
• ACC (1): Charlie Ward (Florida State, 1993)
• Big East (1): Gino Torretta (Miami, 1992)
• MWC (1): Ty Detmer (Brigham Young, 1990)
• SEC (1): Danny Wuerffel (Florida, 1996)

Dayne would be Wisconsin's second Heisman winner (Alan Amache in 1954 was the other), making the Badgers the 15th with multiple Heisman Trophy winners. Notre Dame with seven is at the top of list, followed by Ohio State (6) and USC (4). Oklahoma, Army and Michigan have three. Navy, Georgia, Yale, Auburn, Nebraska, Miami, Florida and Texas have two apiece.

Don't let your babies grow up to be Heisman-winning QBs

The 1990s has produced a quartet of Heisman-winning quarterbacks who were, shall we say, less than major NFL success stories. In the case of Charlie Ward, an NFL never-was, although he's doing all right with that point guard thing with the Knicks.

As for the others, Gino Torretta is now an announcer, Danny Wuerffel can't beat out Billy Joe or Billy Joe (Hobert and Tolliver) in New Orleans and Ty Detmer's resume includes the words "career backup."

Before them was Andre Ware (1989), Vinny Testaverde (1986) and Doug Flutie (1984). Despite being a starter for almost all of his career, Testaverde didn't have a breakthrough season until last year with the Jets … and Flutie just began getting NFL respect after a glory-filled career in the Canadian Football League.

Since running backs won all the awards from 1972 to 1983, and Auburn QB Pat Sullivan took home the statue in 1971, you have to go all the way back to 1970 to find a Heisman-winning quarterback who went on to greatness in the NFL: Jim Plunkett of Stanford.

Looking rosy

Thanks mostly to a Pac-10 Heisman drought that dates to Marcus Allen in 1981, the Rose Bowl went 17 years without the nation's top college player playing in Pasadena (1980-96).

Now, the Rose Bowl will have two in three seasons.

Michigan's Charles Woodson lived up the Heisman hype in 1997, intercepting a Ryan Leaf pass in the end zone, leading a Wolverine victory. And Dayne is sure to do the same this season, considering that he is going against a Stanford team that ranks 110th in total defense.

Runaway Dayne?

Even though Dayne figures to be the clear winner, he won't come close to being a winner of historic proportions -- no matter how you figure it.

In terms of most points (2,853) and most first-place votes (855), USC's O.J. Simpson is king. Thing is, there were about 280 more Heisman voters in 1968 than there are now, so when you look at who received the highest percentage of first-place votes, it's a different story.

By percentage, the winner is Florida State's Charlie Ward, who was the first choice of 740 of 919 electors in 1993, 80.5 percent. Simpson received 71.25 percent of the first-place vote in '68.

Heisman 2000

Even before this year's winner is crowned, we're shamelessly eager about next year's race, and present the early favorites:

1. Drew Brees, QB, Purdue: He's got the system (and the talent) to put up unimpeachable numbers.

2. Michael Vick, QB, Virginia Tech: Can't wait to see what he does for an encore.

3. Eric Crouch, QB, Nebraska: The job will be his from Day 1.

4. David Terrell, WR/DB, Michigan: Even more of a two-way player than Woodson.

5. Antwaan Randle El, QB, Indiana: The most exciting player in college football.

Four would-be candidates

There are others who would be sure-fire candidates for the Heisman, but we expect them to be playing on Sundays next season, not Saturday … or maybe even in professional baseball, but Quincy Carter has yet to make up his mind.

Here are four underclassmen who might not be around in 2000:

• LaVar Arrington, LB, Penn State, Junior
• Quincy Carter, QB, Georgia, Sophomore
• Chris Weinke, QB, Florida State, Junior
• Plaxico Burress, WR, Michigan State, Junior

The rest of the field

TCU junior LaDainian Tomlinson was the nation's leading rusher this season at 168.2 yards per game … but if Iowa State's Troy Davis couldn't win the Heisman at Iowa State with back-to-back 2,000-yard seasons, what chance does Tomlinson have? Uh … you figure it out.

At least LaMont Jordan (148.4 yards per game) plays for a team from a power conference -- Maryland -- although he still has to make some headway in terms of name recognition. So remember him: LaMont Jordan.

Others worthy of consideration include:

• Josh Heupel, QB, Oklahoma
• Santana Moss, WR, Miami
• Deuce McAllister, RB, Ole Miss
• Anthony Thomas, RB, Michigan
• Marques Tuiasosopo, QB, Washington
• Major Applewhite, QB, Texas

And our pick as the super-duper, out-of-left-field, totally-off-the-wall candidate is … drum roll, please … UCLA receiver Freddie Mitchell.