At one point in its not-so-distant past, the Big 12 Conference was home to 17 Heisman Trophy winners.
That number will be reduced to just six in 2024, with half of those Heisman winners coming from teams added in the last two years, with the hope that one day more will be added to the mix.
Here are the six Heisman Trophy winners from the 16 teams currently in the Big 12 Conference:
Davey O’Brien, QB, TCU (1938): O’Brien was the first quarterback to win the Heisman and the first player to win both the Maxwell Award and the Heisman in the same year.
Barry Sanders, RB, Oklahoma State (1988): Sanders went a few hours down the road from his hometown of Wichita, Kansas, to play for the Cowboys. In his Heisman-winning season, Sanders rushed for 2,628 yards and 37 touchdowns … in just 11 games. Think on that.
Andre Ware, QB, Houston (1989): Ware wanted to play college football for Texas. The Longhorns wanted him to play defense, so he went to Houston and became the first Black quarterback to win the Heisman.
Ty Detmer, QB, BYU (1990): Detmer set 42 NCAA records in his Heisman-winning season, throwing for 5,188 yards and 41 touchdowns in 12 games.
Rashaan Salaam, RB, Colorado (1994): Salaam missed eight games across his first two seasons but ran for 2,055 yards and 24 touchdowns as Colorado went 11-1 and finished No. 3 in the final AP Top 25 Poll. Salaam died by suicide in 2016. He was 42 years old.
Robert Griffin III, QB, Baylor (2011): RG3 put up insane numbers in Heisman-winning season — 5,007 yards of total offense and 47 total touchdowns. He’s also now the Big 12’s last Heisman winner.
November 19, 2011: Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) throws for 479 yards and 4 TDs to lead Baylor over Oklahoma 45-38 in Waco. RG3 would win the Heisman Trophy less than a month later. pic.twitter.com/KZvVzImvzn
— This Day In Sports Clips (@TDISportsClips) November 19, 2020
