The votes for the three Doak Walker Award finalists were due earlier today.

We’ll select three finalists from the list of 10 (see below), then re-vote for the winner.

The SEC only has one of the 10 candidates — Auburn’s Cameron Artis-Payne — and he’s unlikely to win the award or even make the finals. Six of the nine other candidates have more rushing yards than he does, and he plays in a back-friendly system next to a mobile quarterback in Nick Marshall.

Melvin Gordon should win the award going away, and he’s an automatic finalist. If Wisconsin beats Minnesota and makes the Big Ten championship game, Gordon has a shot to break Barry Sanders’ revered single-season rushing record. He’s also a threat to catch and pass Oregon QB Marcus Mariota late to win the Heisman.

From there it gets interesting. It will be tough to keep Indiana’s Tevin Coleman from the finals, considering he should rush for more than 2,000 yards on a team without anything else going for it.

Miami’s Duke Johnson, Pitt’s James Conner and Nebraska’s Ameer Abdullah are all candidates for the third spot, in my opinion. They’re all very different players.

Johnson is flashy with great vision. He’s one of the best pass-catching backs in college football and can make some electric cuts.

Conner is a throwback. He seems unaffected carrying the ball 35-plus times per game. He’s not a speed demon or an explosive player, but he grinds on defenses. He’s huge, listed at 250 pounds, and pounds opposing tacklers. He also moonlights as a pass rusher.

Abdullah is a pro-style back. He’s been very consistent in his career at Nebraska and entered 2014 as the returning running back with the most rushing yards in the country last season.

Right now I think Johnson and Coleman deserve to be finalists, but Conner has a strong case as well.

RECAPPING SATURDAY’S SEC 100-YARD RUSHERS

Just two SEC running backs topped 100 yards on Saturday, as most of the best players at the position didn’t get enough carries to reach the century mark.

  • Georgia’s Nick Chubb ran for 113 yards on just nine carries. He didn’t start a game until the sixth contest of the season, but since has run for 143, 202, 156, 170, 144 and 113 yards. If he’d only gotten more carries to start the season, he’d be up for the Doak Walker Award, not to mention the Heisman Trophy.
  • Cameron Artis-Payne ran for his usual 129 yards on 24 carries against Samford despite a long of just 12 yards.

Here’s how I submitted my ballot — my Top 10 rankings for the Doak Walker Award.

Player Buzz Previous Rank
1. Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin Gordon’s single-game NCAA record stood for just one week as Oklahoma freshman Samaje Perine broke it. But he still managed 200 yards in a two-point win. 1
2. Duke Johnson, Miami His streaks of 100 rushing yards and at least 150 total yards of offense ended Saturday. He ran for 88 yards and added 44 receiving yards in a deflating road loss. 2
3. Tevin Coleman, Indiana Coleman’s 1,906 rushing yards are more impressive considering he’s IU’s entire offense. He ran for 228 and three TDs Saturday in a competitive loss against Ohio State. 4
4. James Conner, Pitt The indestructible man injured his hip against Syracuse after rushing for 38 yards. His season totals (1,600 rushing yards, 22 TDs) could stagnate if he isn’t healthy. 3
5. Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska Abdullah isn’t quite himself since injuring his knee Nov. 1 against Purdue, but rushed for 98 yards in a loss to Minnesota on Saturday. 5
6. Cameron Artis-Payne, Auburn The Tigers star is 11th in the country in rushing. He’s been Mr. Consistent this year for Auburn. He doesn’t have the monster totals of Melvin Gordon, but shows up each week. 6
7. Javorius Allen, USC He hasn’t run the ball effectively of late, totaling just 60 rushing yards in back-to-back games. But he supplemented with 11 catches for 91 yards in those games. 7
8. Matt Breida, Georgia Southern Breida averages an eye-popping 9.4 yards per carry in Georgia Southern’s tweaked option offense, going for 12.4 yards per carry in a loss to Navy on Saturday. 8
9. Devon Johnson, Marshall He didn’t find the end zone, but his 194 yards of total offense were critical in a narrow win against UAB on Saturday. 9
10. Jay Ajayi, Boise State I don’t think he belongs in the Top 10 despite being a strong NFL prospect. But he had a monster game Saturday: 110 rushing yards, 92 receiving yards, three total TDs. 10