As part of BCS Know How’s 2010 season preview, we will be breaking down our ten favorite Heisman hopefuls to get you ready for this season’s edition of the Heisman Watch.

Here’s our No. 7 selection, Houston senior quarterback Case Keenum.

It’s a question that faces Heisman voters and prognosticators ever year.

Can a quarterback in an overwhelmingly pass-happy offense be given legitimate Heisman consideration even if their statistics are an obvious product of their system?

In years past, Graham Harrell, Timmy Chang, Colt Brennan and Kliff Kingsbury have seemingly been hurt by a perception of statistical inflation despite their unbelievable offensive output.

In 2010, the thought process of Heisman voters will once again be put to the test when they have to evaluate another in a line of gaudy passers, Houston’s Case Keenum.

Keenum, as the face of both his Cougar squad and Conference USA, gained some Heisman support down the stretch of the 2009 season, eventually seeing his grassroots support campaign and 5,000-plus passing yards garner him an eighth place finish in last year’s Heisman voting.

But if Keenum wants to make an even bigger impression in 2010, he’s going to have to do more than just throw for 5,000 yards for a record third-straight season and bring Houston to another ten-victory season.

He’ll have to do it at an even higher level than he has in seasons past, which means eclipsing the 44 touchdowns he’s thrown each of the past two seasons and throwing far fewer than the 15 interceptions he submitted in ’09.

Keenum has the targets on offense to help him towards his goal, as the Cougars return three 1,000-yard receivers, but some may argue the only reason the receivers are as productive as they are is because of Keenum’s efficiency and production.

Still, senior James Cleveland and juniors Tyron Carrier and Patrick Edwards will have a lot to do with whether Keenum can improve on his two second-place and three third-place votes from last year’s Heisman balloting.

Bottom Line: Keenum will likely need to approach a variety of single-season passing records — including touchdowns (58) and passing yards (5,833) — if he wants any shot at the trophy this season. Even the people who hold those records, Colt Brennan and B.J. Symons respectively, were never realistic Heisman contenders in their record setting years (although Brennan was a finalist), so it’ll be an uphill climb for Keenum.

But if he can put together a season where the numbers come close to records, while keeping his interceptions down and leading the Cougars to an 11-win or better season, it would be truly hard to keep Keenum out of the Heisman conversation in 2010.

As part of BCS Know How’s 2010 college football season preview, we will be breaking down each week’s most important games that could have BCS and postseason implications in the “Road to Glendale 2011″.

Let’s move on to week eight where the nation’s best can begin to truly separate themselves from the pack.

Oklahoma at Missouri: Saturday Oct. 23, TBA

A young, unproven Missouri team put in a surprisingly good 2009 season, leading many to believe the Tigers are a legitimate Big 12 North contender despite their continued relative youth.

It’s not a stretch to think of the Tigers as co-favorites in the North with Nebraska, especially with junior quarterback Blaine Gibbert leading the way. Full of potential and of the classic quarterback mold, only Colt McCoy was better than Gibbert in terms of Big 12 passing efficiency in ’09.

Equipped with a stable of talented receivers, Gibbert is poised to break out in 2010.

If Missouri can make its way to a Big 12 North title, this game could be a Big 12 Championship Game preview, as Oklahoma is favored to return to the top of the always-competitive Big 12 South.

Quarterback Landry Jones and running back DeMarco Murray will take to the task of replacing the lost talent from the 2009 Sooners, and could be on their way back to a BCS bowl.

It wont be easy, but both the Sooners and Tigers could be undefeated coming into this late-October matchup in Columbia, meaning this could end up being among the most important games of the Big 12 regular season.

Wisconsin at Iowa: Saturday Oct. 23, TBA

Ohio State may rule the roost when the conversation turns to Big Ten favorites in 2010, but these two squads might have something to say about it once the 2010 season actually gets started.

Beside being considered co-favorites along with the Buckeyes, the Badgers and Hawkeyes feature two skill players who are more than capable of taking over a game and making sure their team wins. And if either wants a real shot at the Big Ten conference championship, they’ll have to bring their best to this midseason clash at Iowa City.

Making things all the more interesting is the Badgers will be fresh off the marquee matchup of the Big Ten season against Ohio State just seven days earlier at Camp Randall. If the Badgers can pull the upset, this could turn into a must win for either team if they want the Big Ten championship to themselves.

The obvious key to the game will be offense, as Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi and Wisconsin running back John Clay are among the early favorites for the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year. However, defense will likely play a larger role in trying to shut down the game’s skill players, and there Wisconsin might have a slight advantage—especially in the back seven.

Houston at Southern Methodist: Saturday Oct. 23, 3:30 p.m. ET

The two names you might know in this matchup—Houston quarterback Case Keenum and SMU coach June Jones—will be vitally important to each team’s success in 2010. However, in this game, the unheralded players and coaches might play the key in a game that will likely decide the C-USA West Division champion.

Houston’s stable of wide receivers and running backs, anchored by senior wideout James Cleveland and junior running back Bryce Beall, will need to step up against an SMU defense that made huge strides in 2009 and is always ready to take on the pass-happy offenses of the C-USA.

Houston could easily make its way to this matchup undefeated, while SMU will have a more difficult road, but will also likely be undefeated in early C-USA play. Both likely will be favored in all of their remaining conference battles, so this matchup is vitally important to both teams’ hopes of a C-USA championship.

SMU went from 1-11 in 2008 to 8-5 in 2009 after just one year of tutelage from June Jones. Now among the C-USA favorites, can Jones continue the improvement and bring the Mustangs to where Hawaii was when Jones took them into the national spotlight?

This game will definitely be a window into how far the Mustangs have come and whether they have made enough strides to hang with the conference’s most nationally visible program in Houston.

Other Games of Note: LSU at Auburn, Wyoming at BYU,  Notre Dame at Navy, Alabama at Tennessee.

This is seventh in a series of conference profiles as part of BCS Know How’s season preview. Today’s conference is Conference USA.

Conference: Conference USA (C-USA)

Active Since: 1995

Current Member Schools: Houston Cougars, Rice Owls, Southern Methodist (SMU) Mustangs, UTEP Miners, Tulane Green Wave, Tulsa Golden Hurricane, UAB Blazers, Central Florida Knights, East Carolina Pirates, Marshall Thundering Herd, Memphis Tigers, Southern Mississippi (USM) Golden Eagles. (12)

Bowl Affiliations: New Orleans Bowl, St. Petersburg Bowl, Hawaii Bowl, EagleBank Bowl, Armed Forces Bowl, Liberty Bowl. (6)

2009 Results:
Conference Champion – East Carolina
Conference Runner-up – Houston
Overall Bowl Record: 2-4
AP All-Americans: Memphis P Matt Reagan
Heisman Vote Recipients: Houston QB Case Keenum

2010 Outlook: Do you enjoy offense? Well, if you do, Conference USA would be a conference to watch in 2010. Every major contender in the conference has threats on the offensive side of the ball, and that conversation starts with Houston and their nationally recognized quarterback, Case Keenum.

Keenum put together a statistically brilliant season in ’09, passing for more than 5800 yards and 48 TDs. For his performance, he was rewarded with a variety of honors, but Keenum was unable to bring his Cougars a C-USA championship. Expect Keenum and Houston to be motivated to give the conference crown another shot.

Two-time defending conference champion East Carolina will be trying to string together a third title under the tutelage of new coach Ruffin McNeill, but it will be difficult to maintain their recent success with a defensive roster that was depleted by graduation.

Rice running back Sam McGuffie could make an immediate impact on C-USA play after sitting out a transfer-required year after leaving Michigan behind in 2008, only strengthening the conference’s overall offensive prowess.

Coach June Jones at SMU seems to moving the Mustangs in the same direction he pushed Hawaii when he was overseeing some of the most production quarterbacks and offenses of the past few decades, and with a large contingent of returning starters from last year’s 8-5 squad, SMU could be poised to make a move into national prominence.

A mid season meeting between SMU and Houston may hold the key to the West Division crown and the winner may be on the fast track to the C-USA conference title.

Marshall, Tulsa and Southern Miss are also all improved and are are a part of what could be a very strong conference come the end of the 2010 season.

2010 Heisman Hopefuls: Houston QB Case Keenum, Rice RB Sam McGuffie, Southern Miss WR DeAndre Brown

BCS Know How’s 2010 Predictions:
Conference Champion – Southern Methodist (9-3, 8-0)
Conference Runner-up – Central Florida (8-4, 6-2)
Heisman Finalists: None

Mark Ingram

There’s a lot to be said of the mediocrity of this year’s crop of Heisman candidates. It seems like no one really wants to assert themselves. Save one.

Mark Ingram continued a dominating season on Saturday, rushing for 149 yards and two touchdowns. He even was helped off the field after suffering a pretty painful looking gash on his forehead on his first TD run, sat out just the remainder of the quarter, and got back into the action without missing a beat starting in the third quarter. Do you know anyone capable of that?

There is little doubt now who the Heisman frontrunner is, and Ingram’s 70 yard dash midway through the fourth quarter is the stuff of Heisman highlight reels, it’s his trophy to lose.

Case Keenum

True, his statistics continued to shine at the helm of one of the nation’s most pass happy offenses, but Houston’s devastating loss to Central Florida will likely hurt Case Keenum’s Heisman hopes. Rare in recent Heisman history have non-BCS school candidates made the trip to NYC, but in nearly every case, those participants were part of highly ranked, BCS buster-type squads, making noise on the national stage. Now that the Cougars are no longer in that category, Keenum might find it more difficult to see NYC in his future.

Keenum did perform well on Saturday, but was unable to bring his team back from a third straight second half deficit, his 377 yards and three touchdowns were simply not enough to overcome a UCF offense that caught fire after a scoreless first period.

Colt McCoy

It’s strange that Colt McCoy leads one of the nation’s most prolific offenses, but continues to struggle to put up the big numbers that we saw all of last year from the senior quarterback’s arm. On Saturday, his Longhorns plastered the Baylor defense for 47 points, but McCoy was only responsible for two first half touchdown passes, and passed for less than 200 yards for the second time in three games. McCoy is still among the Heisman favorites in this weak field, but even his big name might not be enough if he continues to fill scorecards with mediocre numbers.

Tim Tebow

Tebow and his Gators made some history on Saturday against South Carolina, but the senior quarterback did nothing truly great to boost his Heisman candidacy. Tebow tied the career touchdown record in SEC history, accounting for two on the day – one through the air and one on the ground. This year’s edition of the Gators is also the first squad to finish the SEC regular season undefeated since 1996.

That’s all well and grand for the Gator’s national title hopes and record books, but for Tebow, he continues to see his second Heisman trophy slip away. Tebow continues to put in games that lack the statement quality of his games in year’s past. But as we have discussed many times before, no one is truly out of this year’s race until it’s over – Tebow has hope yet.

CJ Spiller

Preseason Heisman hopeful CJ Spiller has had a string of strong performances lately and has slowly but surely crept up watch lists all around the nation to become a real player in the trophy late in the season. His performance Saturday only vindicated what many had said about the Clemson running back before season’s start, that the senior is the nation’s best running back.

And on Saturday, Spiller set out to prove that he is also the nation’s most versatile running back. Accounting for three Clemson touchdowns, Spiller scored in three different ways – passing for one, rushing for one and catching one in the end zone for a big statement game against NC State.

Important too was the fact that the Tigers are now in control of their own destiny for a BCS bowl bid, if they can beat Virginia and then Georgia Tech, they will make their way to the Orange Bowl, important for Spiller’s Heisman hopes.

Colt McCoy

This is the Colt McCoy we’ve been expecting all season. With his best performance of the season coming this past weekend against UCF, McCoy has certainly solidified his spot among the Heisman favorites. His 470 yards and two touchdowns were good enough to deliver McCoy his best passer rating of the season as the Longhorns took it to UCF, 35-3. Also, it looks almost certain that the Longhorns will finish the season undefeated and in the national championship game the way they’re playing now, finally having hit their offensive stride. And as we all know, leading a successful team is always helpful to a Heisman candidacy.

Mark Ingram

When it was most important, Mark Ingram stepped up to the plate for the Crimson Tide, and his 144 rushing yards were integral in securing not only the victory for Alabama over LSU, but the SEC West crown as well. Although Ingram did not find the end zone for just the second time this season, and Julio Jones might have stolen the show, Ingram continued to show why he is considered among the best running backs in the nation, helping the sometimes uneven Tide offense to avoid the monumental upset by the Tigers.

Jimmy Clausen

At first glance, Clausen’s statistical line on Saturday looks good enough to strengthen the junior’s Heisman candidacy, but look closer, and you might see reason for doubt. In the Irish loss to Navy, Clausen committed two costly turnovers and an unforgivable 15-yard penalty during Notre Dame’s third loss of the season. The loss in and of itself doesn’t help Clausen’s candidacy, as the Irish struggle to find the momentum that helped them climb the national rankings earlier this year. All told, Clausen did pass for more than 450 yards and had two touchdowns, but it’s the little things that are starting to hurt his Heisman hopes.

Tim Tebow

Not the worst game we’ve seen out of Tebow all year, but the effort put in by the senior QB and the Gators left some of the critics wondering. His only TD pass came on a tipped ball in the end zone, and although he rush for another touchdown late in the third quarter, Tebow’s two total touchdowns weren’t anything extraordinary. In this year where no one wants to assert themselves in the Heisman race, Tebow leads the pack in mediocrity.

Case Keenum

Another 500 yard performance from Keenum, and for the second time in two weeks, he leads his Houston Cougars to close victory over an in conference opponent. This time, Keenum lead the Cougar offense to nine points in 21 seconds. Keenum passed to wideout James Cleveland with 21 seconds left for his fifth touchdown pass of the game. The Cougars then recovered the onside kick, Keenum completed two passes of 12 and 13 yards, and his kicker came through as the final seconds ticking off the clock, nailing a 51-yard field goal with all zeroes. Keenum’s performance once again showed why he is the most prolific quarterback in the nation, and his two last minute drives could be considered Keenum’s “Heisman moment”, that elusive highlight that solidifies a Heisman candidacy.

Colt McCoy

Nothing special from McCoy this week, but at this point in the season, where no one is stepping up, that’s more than enough to keep him on most lists. The Oklahoma State game was supposed to be a challenge for the Longhorns, but they didn’t struggle in the least, and McCoy had a relatively quiet night, completing 16 of 21 for 171 yards and a touchdown pass. In the coming weeks, McCoy will certainly have opportunities for big statistical output, as the Longhorn’s schedule gets a whole lot easier.

Tim Tebow

A solid all-around game from Tebow helped Florida continue its recent dominance of the Georgia-Florida rivalry. In rushing for 85 yards and two touchdowns, Tebow also broke Herschel Walker’s all-time SEC rushing touchdowns record, which had stood at 50. Tebow was also relatively proficient through the air, passing for two touchdowns on just 21 attempts. Tebow too will have the opportunity to get some big statistics into his resume in the coming weeks, as the Gators have a pretty easy rest of the SEC regular season.

Jimmy Clausen

Just as the previous two quarterbacks on this list, Clausen oversaw an easy victory. For the Fighting Irish, that victory came over Washington State in San Antonio, Texas. Clausen finished with two more passing touchdowns, bringing his season total to 16, on track to match or better his output from last season, where he had 25 TD passes. And for the third straight game, Clausen went without an interception, important in the Irish’s recent success.

Mark Ingram

Mark Ingram had a bye this week, but his overall statistics speak for themselves, and therefore Ingram stays among the Heisman favorites. Already over 1,000 yards on the season, Ingram has been integral in the Crimson Tide’s success this year, and has played an important role in the success of Alabama’s offensive success, although against the SEC, the yards have been harder to come by.

Case Keenum

Keenum, following rather subpar performance last week against Southern Methodist, followed it up with his best performance of the season, and of his career. His 559 yards on 44 of 54 passing helped Houston continue its surprising season, improving their record to 7-1. Keenum also passed for five touchdowns, a career high.