Yes, it’s the time of the year that can only mean one thing -- a new football season is right around the corner.
“It”, of course, is the presence of preseason watch lists, and the first two of 15 such lists to be released over the next 12 days were, ummm, released Monday.
The most prestigious of the two is the Maxwell Award, given annually since 1937 to the nation’s most outstanding collegiate football player. This year’s watch list is 64 players strong, headlined by a quartet of semifinalists for last year’s Maxwell -- USC quarterback Matt Barkley, Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd, Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones and USC wide receiver Robert Woods.
Nine of the 11 conferences in major college football -- the Sun Belt and WAC being the lone exceptions -- are represented, paced by the Pac-12’s 14 players on the watch list and the SEC’s 13.
USC led all school with four players named to the list -- Barkley, Woods, wide receiver Marquise Lee and running back Curtis McNeal -- while Arkansas, Clemson and Oklahoma had three players apiece.
You can view all of the individual preseason watch lists in one handy repository HERE, and the entire Maxwell Award watch list appears below.
