By Andrea Szulszteyn
The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Tim Brown doesn't think this year's Heisman race is much of a competition. Danny Wuerffel says it's too close to call.

Ask former Heisman Trophy winners what they think of the race for college football's most prestigious award, and each one has a different answer. Iowa's Brad Banks, Southern California's Carson Palmer, Penn State's Larry Johnson and Miami teammates Ken Dorsey and Willis McGahee are finalists for the trophy in one of the most wide-open contests in Heisman history.

Brown, who won the Heisman in 1987 with Notre Dame, voted for McGahee. So did Ricky Williams, the 1998 winner from Texas. Doug Flutie, who won it in 1984 out of Boston College, said his top three are quarterbacks - but he wouldn't say who he voted No. 1. All former winners get to vote each year.

This year's winner will be announced Saturday at the Yale Club in New York City.

"I don't think it's much of a race," Brown said. "I think it's going to be McGahee or Johnson, but I think McGahee's going to win it. ... It probably became pretty obvious three weeks ago this kid (McGahee) was probably the best player in the country."

Maybe it was obvious to Brown, but the emergence of new candidates each week made it difficult for some voters. No one except Dorsey was listed among the top contenders entering this season.

Strong late-season performances pushed Palmer and Johnson into contention. McGahee wasn't even supposed to play tailback, and Banks had never started a Division I-A game until this season.

"It seemed like four or five weeks ago a handful of names were changing all the time," Wuerffel said. "You put your vote in and somebody else runs for 300 yards, and someone else puts their vote in and McGahee runs for six touchdowns and then Carson Palmer throws for 39 hundred-thousand touchdowns. It's a tough race. I have no idea what's going to happen."

It's a rare situation when two finalists are from the same school. The last time that happened was 1994, when Penn State's Ki-Jana Carter finished second and Kerry Collins finished fourth.

Some believe Dorsey's and McGahee's chances will be diminished because they both play for the top-ranked Hurricanes. Dorsey, who is 38-1 as a starter, completed 194 of 350 passes for 3,073 yards, 26 touchdowns and 10 interceptions this season.

McGahee broke the school record with 27 touchdowns and also set school records for yards rushing (1,686), total yards (2,036), and 100-yard games (10).

"It's such a regional voting thing, because they're the guys you get to watch," Flutie said. "So the Northeast people have a tendency to vote for the people they've seen on TV and the same for the Southeast or West Coast.

"If you wind up splitting those votes, that's going to hurt the individual overall."

Williams said: "You have to think who has contributed more to the success that team has. It's probably McGahee. He's had some big runs at clutch times. But I'm a running back. I'm probably a little biased."

It could be an advantage that the Hurricanes are 12-0 and playing for their second straight national championship.

"I would guess one of those Miami players would be favored, just because a team like that usually has an advantage," said Redskins coach Steve Spurrier, who won the Heisman in 1966 at Florida.

Dorsey has his supporters. Vinny Testaverde, who won out of Miami in 1986, is leaning toward the senior quarterback. So is Gino Torretta, another Hurricane who won it in 1992.

Even though Dorsey's numbers aren't as good as they were a year ago when he finished third in the Heisman voting behind Eric Crouch and Rex Grossman, Testaverde and Torretta have taken into account what he's done over the course of his career.

"It is supposed to be given to an individual each year, but it is like anything else, it is hard not to notice what players have done in the past," Testaverde said. "In Kenny's case, he has had a great career. He has had an outstanding year this year, and I think he deserves it."

Some believe Palmer deserves it. The senior completed nearly 63 percent of his passes for 3,639 yards and 32 touchdowns with 10 interceptions this year. During the Trojans' final eight games, he threw for 2,676 yards and 27 touchdowns with seven interceptions.

The last West Coast player to win the award was USC's Marcus Allen in 1981.

"I am what you would call objectively biased," Allen said. "But I think Carson has come into his own, and his maturity level is fantastic. I would love to see him win the Heisman."

Johnson finished with 2,015 yards rushing, only the ninth Division I-A player to top 2,000 in a season. Banks led the nation in passing efficiency, going 155-of-258 for 2,369 yards, 25 touchdowns and four interceptions. He also ran for 387 yards and five TDs on 73 carries; he was named The Associated Press College Player of the Year.

"Some people say some voters just vote for quarterbacks and others just for running backs," Torretta said. "There are probably 900 different answers."

Nine hundred different answers, and anyone's guess.