/ Tami Chappell / Reuters file

Florida senior Tim Tebow, left, Texas senior Colt McCoy, center and Oklahoma junior Sam Bradford were Heisman finalists last season. All three quarterbacks turned down a chance to join the NFL early to return to college football in 2009.

Stars playing their way into and out of contention is always the fun part of following the Heisman chase throughout the season. Remember last year? No less than seven players — Beanie Wells, Knowshon Moreno, Javon Ringer, Chase Daniel, Graham Harrell, McCoy and Tebow — held an upper hand over Bradford at one time or another. But that won’t be happening this year. It’s a private party. The velvet ropes are in place, indicating that there is something big going on, but the guest list is microscopic.

Make no mistake. This is a top-notch trio, one of the best ever. There is no doubt about that.

(By the way, the last time the top three vote-getters returned the following season was more than 60 years ago, when the top four from 1945 — Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis from Army, Bob Fenimore of Oklahoma A&M and Herman Wedemeyer of St. Mary's — were all juniors and came back. Davis went on to win in 1946, Blanchard finished fourth and Wedemeyer was sixth. Fenimore played sparingly because of injures and wasn't a factor in the Heisman race, but the Chicago Bears made him the first pick overall in the 1947 NFL draft.)

The “race” this year will be nonexistent. Boring if you will. Very much unlike what we’ve been accustomed to.

Players with obscene offensive statistics need not apply in 2009. Remember Graham Harrell last year? Bradford and third-place Tebow were separated by just 151 points, but the drop off between Tebow and Harrell in fourth-place was a whopping 1,362 points.

Expect more of the same.

That’s too bad for Jahvid Best, Zac Robinson, Jonathan Dwyer and C.J. Spiller. They won’t be anywhere near New York City in December. Dark horses will be kept in the barn.

That great Heisman race people are talking about? Perhaps it will happen next year.

With the prospect of an NFL rookie wage scale looming and/or a work stoppage prior to the 2011 season, there will be a flood of elite college football players entering their names early for the NFL Draft next spring, leaving the 2010 Heisman race absolutely wide open.

Special feature Heisman Hopefuls Who will win top individual prize this season? NBCSports.com

The balance of power between the top teams won’t shift very much, but the individuals who make most of the headlines will feature a decidedly different cast of characters.

It’s anybody’s guess who the Heisman frontrunners will be a year from now, but we do know that it will be a compelling race and considerably more fun to monitor than this year’s formulaic situation.

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