Former Heisman winner Robert Griffin III explains how hate against Coach Prime could cost Travis Hunter the coveted award

The Heisman Trophy winner will be given the award at the Heisman Trophy Ceremony on Saturday, and most pundits, fans and sportsbooks agree that No. 23 Colorado Buffaloes two-way star Travis Hunter is the runaway favorite. Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty is expected to get votes, but Hunter should win by a large margin.

On Friday, 2011 Heisman winner Robert Griffin III appeared on "The Zach Gelb Show" to discuss various topics, including the upcoming Heisman announcement. In the discussion, Gelb asked if the hate toward Coach Prime could cost Hunter the award.

In response, Griffin compared voters quietly voting for Jeanty to those who quietly voted for President Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

"Yeah, I can see that, and I can see it in a sense as well, it's not just politics, it's marketing," RGIII said. "So, when people are voting for these awards, yeah they're voting for the best player at a certain position but it might be that they're voting for the player they want their brand attached to the most. I think that's a real thing and I think we have to be cognizant of that.

I'm not saying the Heisman is doing that because there's so many Heisman voters. I don't know where these votes come from but who wants their brand associated with a certain person? And you already know that if Travis doesn't win, the narrative is going to be it's because those voters didn't like Deion Sanders and they held that against them. If it was a close race, I don't think I would say that. If it's not a close race and Jeanty wins, I think there might be some validity to that."

Travis Hunter is a huge favorite to win the Heisman

Despite many members of the college football community not liking Coach Prime, Travis Hunter is still a huge favorite to win the Heisman on Saturday. The best odds for Hunter to win are at Bet 365 at -2000. However, his odds are as high as -10,000 for some sportsbooks like Bet MGM.

Ashton Jeanty is the only other realistic option to win the award. However, even at Bet 365, his odds are still only +750. While sportsbooks are not a perfect indicator of who will win, they are usually fairly accurate. So, it looks like Hunter will be the 2024 Heisman winner.