After releasing its revamped watch list exactly a month ago yesterday, the Maxwell Award has pared down that 78-player-strong list rather significantly.
The prestigious award announced Monday its list of semifinalists, which consists of 16 players spread across five conferences and one independent program.
The only player to repeat as a semifinalist is USC quarterback Matt Barkley. USC -- Barkley and wide receiver Marqise Lee -- and Oregon -- running backs Kenjon Barner and DeAnthony Thomas -- were the only schools with more than one player to make the semifinal cut.
Seven quarterbacks and six running backs made the cut, as did a pair of players from the defensive side of the ball -- Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o and Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones.
The Pac-12 led all conferences with five semifinalists, followed by the SEC with four and the ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 with two apiece. There were no schools outside the “BcS” conferences represented on the list.
The three finalists will be announced Nov. 19, with the 76th Maxwell to be awarded Dec. 6. Last year’s winner was Stanford’s Andrew Luck.
