Tebow closed well, could win again

Gainesville, Fla. —- Before last week’s SEC title game, many experts said Tim Tebow needed a monster game to stay in the Heisman Trophy race.

No problem. The Florida quarterback orchestrated two fourth-quarter scoring drives and accounted for 283 total yards and three scores in a 31-20 win over Alabama for the SEC crown.

Now onto the next challenge: whether Tebow has enough swing to win different pockets of the country. His regional prowess could be the difference between a second Heisman win Saturday (8 p.m., ESPN) and an excuse to wear a suit.

Tebow is one of three finalists in a close race with two other quarterbacks: Texas’ Colt McCoy and Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford.

Here’s what has to happen for Tebow to be the first repeat Heisman winner since Ohio State’s Archie Griffin (1974-75).

(Note: There are 926 Heisman voters, and players get three points for a first-place vote, two points for second and one point for third.)

Carry weight in the Southwest

With the emergence of the Big 12 quarterbacks, Tebow won’t run away with this area. He just can’t get swallowed by it. He needs some presence.

That’s where second-place votes come in among voters from Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Nebraska and Colorado.

They might feel uncomfortable voting Bradford and McCoy as first and second, so the two could sandwich Tebow’s name on many ballots. Or they might be indecisive and take Tebow over both.

Remember that Tebow lost the Southwest in 2007 to Arkansas running back Darren McFadden 298-323, but that didn’t derail his almost 300-point win.

Dominate the South

Tebow is the favorite in this region, but he needs a landslide.

Tebow won the South last year 356-285 over a fellow SEC player in McFadden, so he might pick up at least half of what McFadden left behind.

But not every Southerner is a lock to honor Tebow.

South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, who won the 1966 Heisman, said he never reveals his vote —- but his hints point to the Southwest.

“I sort of feel the Oklahoma-Texas quarterbacks might have an edge because they are throwing so much over there,” Spurrier said.

Shine in the swing states

California and the North could determine a winner. The West is wide open.

Tebow won the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and West easily last year. Sustaining that presence may be tough, said Chris Huston of HeismanPundit.com.

“It’s so hard to win the thing twice, you have to have everything going one way across the country,” Huston said. “Many voters could feel that the spirit that captured the season was the Big 12 conference and the Big 12 quarterbacks.”

Vote for yourself

Every former winner has a Heisman vote, but as of Sunday, Tebow says he hadn’t decided whom to vote for.

Tebow wants to preserve the integrity of the voting by electing the rightful winner. His decision could determine history.

HEISMAN TROPHY

> When: 8 p.m. Saturday

> TV: ESPN