Now that Arkansas’ chances of returning to the SEC Championship Game are slimmer than its playbook, one has to wonder if Darren McFadden can win the Heisman Trophy.

The first part of the debate, whether he’s the most outstanding college football player, has been settled.

“Forget the Heisman Trophy, [it ] is Darren McFadden of Arkansas,” ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit said after watching the junior tailback / quarterback / superhero eviscerate Alabama.

Herbstreit isn’t alone. In trying to help McFadden win the Heisman race, Arkansas’ sports information staff circulated two pages of quotes about the Herculean Hog before Saturday’s game against Kentucky.

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Here’s a sampling: “McFadden is definitely the best running back in college football.” — LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego Chargers running back and reigning NFL MVP. “He’s the No. 1 player in the country, whether he’s in with the juniors or seniors.” — ESPN NFL Draft guru Mel Kiper. “I would say he’s a combination of O. J. [Simpson ] and Earl Campbell.” — Kentucky Coach Rich Brooks, who’s been around long enough to have seen both of those previous Heisman winners.

The real issue, then, becomes whether the more than 900 people who have a Heisman vote will cast it for a player who’s not part of a championship-type team. History, at least since 1980, says no. Consider this: The past four Heisman winners — Troy Smith, Reggie Bush, Matt Leinart and Jason White — each played in the BCS National Championship Game. Since that 1980 season, eight other Heisman winners — Chris Weinke, Charles Woodson, Danny Wuerffel, Charlie Ward, Gino Torretta, Vinny Testaverde, Mike Rozier and Herschel Walker — played in what essentially were national championship games.

Seven other Heisman winners played on teams that won at least 10 games. Three of the remaining eight Heisman winners since 1980 — Andre Ware, Barry Sanders and Doug Flutie — were part of teams that finished the season with just two losses. That leaves five players — Ricky Williams, Tim Brown, Bo Jackson, Marcus Allen and George Rogers — who were able to win the Heisman without their respective teams putting together headline-grabbing seasons. Of those five, Jackson and Rogers might provide the best examples of what it looks like McFadden will have to overcome if he wants to bring home the Heisman.

Jackson played on the 1985 Auburn team that finished the regular season 8-3, including a 3-3 SEC record. Auburn beat Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Georgia that season, while losing to Tennessee, Florida and Alabama.

What helped Jackson’s cause, though, was that Auburn also beat Florida State that year and didn’t lose its second and third games until November. It didn’t hurt, either, that Jackson’s top two challengers were Chuck Long and Robbie Bosco, two mostly forgotten quarterbacks at this point in history.

Rogers also played on a team that went 8-3 in the regular season, not losing its last two games until November. More importantly, the Heisman field was so weak in 1980 that Hugh Green, a defensive end at Pittsburgh, finished second in the balloting.

McFadden won’t have that luxury. Just in his own conference, McFadden will have to deal with the rising stocks of Florida’s Tim Tebow and Kentucky’s Andre ’ Woodson, eyepleasing quarterbacks who just keep winning.

Throw in Southern Cal quarterback John David Booty and the West Virginia tailback-quarterback duo of Steve Slaton and Pat White, and you have three more players who figure to stay in the Heisman discussion as long as their teams stay near the top of the polls.

McFadden also faces another dilemma. Having already carried the ball a whopping 86 times in three games, he probably could use some rest against cupcakes like North Texas and Chattanooga.

McFadden likely needs to put up some monster numbers in those games, though, just to make sure he stays fresh in the minds of Heisman voters until Arkansas gets back into SEC play.

The good news is that Heisman voters can be a fickle bunch. (See Charles Woodson over Peyton Manning in 1997. ) Maybe this will be the year they decide to give the Heisman to the most outstanding player regardless of his team’s record.

A thoroughbred shouldn’t be penalized because he’s hitched to a one-trick pony, after all, a fact acknowledged even on Arkansas’ pregame handout.

“Keep in mind, it’s not like Arkansas has this vaunted passing attack,” read another Kiper quote. “They know who to key on.”

They do, all right, and they still can’t stop him. Here’s to hoping a season teetering on the brink of disaster doesn’t stop McFadden, either.