SMQ: Stanford finishes runner-up in Heisman voting for sixth time in history

4 runner-up finishes

• SCHOOLS (4): Notre Dame, USC, Iowa, Tennessee
• MOST HEISMAN WINS: Notre Dame & USC, 7
• SCHOOLS THAT HAVEN’T WON (1): Tennessee
• MOST TOP-3 FINISHES: Notre Dame, 18

Here is where you’d expect to find the cream of the crop. Notre Dame and USC have each finished second in the Heisman voting on four occasions. More significant is the fact that the rival Fighting Irish and Trojans each have seven Heisman Trophies (counting Reggie Bush’s since-vacated 2005 award, since voting did occur that season). They are unlikely to think too much about those lost opportunities.

That isn’t necessarily the case for a school like Iowa. The Hawkeyes do boast one Heisman winner, 1939 victor Nile Kinnick. The namesake of Iowa’s home stadium was one of the early beneficiaries of the award’s creation, finishing ahead of Michigan’s Tom Harmon (who won in 1940) and Missouri quarterback Paul Christman.

Iowa has had four close calls since that victory nearly eight decades ago. The most recent was quarterback Brad Banks, who fell 233 points short against USC’s Carson Palmer in the 2002 vote. Chuck Long lost out to Bo Jackson in 1985. In back-to-back years, Alex Karras fell to Texas A&M running back John David Crow in 1957 and Randy Duncan finished behind Army’s Pete Dawkins in 1958.

The odd team out in this group then is Tennessee. Peyton Manning, Heath Shuler, Johnny Majors, and Hank Lauricella all came close to snatching away the hardware for the Volunteers. But a Heisman has never come home to Knoxville and the complex around Neyland Stadium. For a school that has spent the offseason in an identity crisis after being rebuffed in its coaching search, the lack of a Heisman is another blow to the ego.