Ricky Stanzi will win a Super Bowl ...

Sez who? Sez David Payne of Covers.com, a sports site that is primarily about sports-betting (hence the name), but also features analysis and commentary.

Jay Christensen of the excellent college football-oriented thewizofOdds.com has written columns for Covers.

Payne looks at the average height and college background of the 28 quarterbacks who have won Super Bowls (just four have been from the Big Ten, and another is from Northern Iowa) and comes up with five current college QBs who can follow suit in this story. Iowa's Ricky Stanzi is one of his choices.

Payne wrote:

At 6-4, 230 pounds, he's got plenty of size and arm strength to make all the necessary throws at the next level. He'll arrive in the NFL after starting three years in Iowa's pro-style offense. He's greatly improved his accuracy this season and is third in the nation in passing efficiency. He's also cut back his interceptions. After throwing 15 INTs last season, he's been picked off only three times (My insertion. It's two, actually, and one of those should have been caught by his own receiver) this season.

Plus, you have to love his big-game moxie, which will be on display down the stretch in the tightly contested Big Ten race.

Jon Miller of HawkeyeNation.com suggested this week that people start looking at Stanzi as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Jon wrote:

Rick Stanzi is on a pace for one of the best seasons an Iowa quarterback has ever had. Here are his current projections:

Passing Yards: 3,194. TD Passses: 28. INT'S: 5

The passing yards total would be third best all time for a season and the touchdown passes would break Chuck Long's single season record by one.

Of course, Stanzi hasn't played Wisconsin, Michigan State or Ohio State yet. But ...

And Adam Rittenberg, ESPN.com's 24/7 Big Ten blogger, also gave a tip of the helmet to Stanzi this week, calling him the Big Ten's leader in his conference Offensive Player of the Year rankings and, as I took this post, the conference's leading Heisman Trophy contender.

Which is saying something given Terrelle Pryor, John Clay and Denard Robinson roam the conference.

Of course, all these opinions are flexible.

I'm still trying to track down the post from this summer, but I predicted 27 TD passes and 7 interceptions for Stanzi this year. I took some grief in some circles. Understandably. And, he's only about halfway to those TDs with seven of 13 games left (I'm assuming a bowl appearance will be included).

But it's looking more realistic now than it did two months ago, eh?