Colt Brennan became the first University of Hawai‘i player to be named a Heisman Trophy finalist today. Joaquin Siopack | The Honolulu Advertiser

Brennan guided the Warriors to a 12-0 regular season and a berth in the Bowl Championship Series in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 against Georgia.

The other finalists are: Florida quarterback Tim Tebow; Arkansas running back Darren McFadden; and Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel. They will all be in New York on Saturday night when the award is given to the top player in college football.

It will be televised on ESPN (Ch. 22/222) at 3 p.m., Hawai'i time.

The Heisman race took a while to develop this season and seemed wide open until the last month when Tebow, McFadden and Daniel emerged as front-runners.

Tebow is trying to become the first sophomore to win the Heisman. McFadden was the runner-up for last year's award.

Since the first Heisman was given to Chicago's Jay Berwanger in 1935, all 70 players who have won college football's most prestigious award have been juniors or seniors.

Tebow could break that trend. The ultimate dual-threat quarterback at about 235 pounds, Tebow ran for 838 yards rushing and an Southeastern Conference-record 22 touchdowns.

He's also the nation's second-leading passer, having completed 68 percent of his throws for 3,132 yards, with 29 touchdowns and just six interceptions in his first season as a starter.

Tebow's already had a historic season, becoming the first major college player to run for 20 touchdowns and throw 20 TD passes in the same season.

McFadden was one of the preseason favorites after finishing second to Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith last year. His candidacy lagged with a mediocre October, but he gave himself a boost with a spectacular November. In the final month of the season, McFadden tied the SEC record with 321 yards rushing against South Carolina, and ran for 206 yards and three TDs and also threw a touchdown pass to lead the Razorbacks to a 50-48 triple overtime victory over then-No. 1 LSU.

McFadden could become the fifth player to win the Heisman the year after being the runner-up, joining Tom Harmon of Michigan, Glenn Davis of Army, O.J. Simpson of USC and Herschel Walker of Georgia.

Daniel was one of six quarterbacks to reach 4,000 yards passing this season. He threw for 4,170 yards and 33 TDs to get the surprising Tigers within a victory of reaching the BCS national championship game.

Brennan led Hawai'i to the only perfect regular season in major college football and its first BCS appearance, but his numbers were down from last year because he lost some time to injuries.

Running the Warriors' run-n-shoot offense, Brennan passed for 4,174 and 38 touchdowns. He also set the major college record for career touchdown passes with 131.