The Maxwell Football Club today announced its watch list for the 76th annual Maxwell Award, which included Buffalo junior running back Branden Oliver. Last season, Oliver rushed for 1,395 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns for the Bulls as he averaged 116.2 yards per game. During his sophomore campaign, Oliver averaged 4.6 yards per carry.
The Maxwell Award has been given to America's outstanding collegiate football player since 1937, and is named in honor of sportswriter Robert W. "Tiny" Maxwell. The watch list will once again incorporate a broad spectrum of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) programs and conferences from coast to coast.
Semifinalists for the Maxwell Award will be announced October 29, and the three finalists for the award will be unveiled November 19. The winners of the 2011 Maxwell Award will be announced as part of the Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Show held on December 6. The formal presentation of these awards will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala hosted by Harrah's Entertainment Atlantic City on March 1, 2013.
The watch list candidates have been chosen by the Maxwell Football Club's selection committee, evaluating past performance and future potential. The Club reserves the right to make additions and deletions to these lists as the 2012 season unfolds. All members of the Maxwell Football Club, NCAA sports information directors, head coaches and selected national media are eligible to vote for the awards.
The Maxwell Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game's predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association's official website at NCFAA.org.
The members of the NCFAA are unveiling their preseason watch lists over a 12-day period this month. Fifteen of the association's 21 awards select a preseason watch list, and this is just the second time the NCFAA has spearheaded a coordinated effort to promote each award's preseason candidates. Following is the complete 2012 preseason watch list calendar: