Every year, the SEC is well-represented when it comes to the major college football awards. From preseason watch lists, which sometimes list half the SEC’s players at a given position — the Rimington Award watch list included eight SEC centers, for instance — all the way through when finalists are announced in November and December, the conference more than holds its own nationally.

Last year only yielded one national award for the SEC, but the conference was out in full force at the awards ceremony. Several of those stars, like Amari Cooper and Landon Collins, are now in the NFL, while others are back for another go-round.

Who will emerge as the SEC’s candidates for major national awards this year?

Heisman Trophy

  1. Nick Chubb, Georgia
  2. Jeremy Johnson, Auburn
  3. Dak Prescott, Mississippi State
  4. Leonard Fournette, LSU

The most well-covered conference in the country is always going to have contenders for this award. Every statue handed out since 1998 has gone to a running back or quarterback, and team success is a prerequisite. That’s why Prescott and Fournette sit below Johnson and Chubb here, although all four certainly have pretty good odds of making it to New York.

Maxwell Award/Walter Camp Award (most outstanding player)

  1. Prescott
  2. Johnson

Aside from the odd Manti Te’o appearance, these two awards have been quarterback-dominated for the last decade, with the winners often overlapping. The SEC’s top-two quarterbacks should both have a crack at these, and Prescott was a finalist for both last fall.

Doak Walker Award (best running back)

  1. Chubb
  2. Fournette
  3. Derrick Henry, Alabama

Derrick Henry gets added to the mix along with the two Heisman contenders (which Henry could end up as with a steady diet of carries). It wouldn’t be a surprise to see any combination of these three as finalists come December.

Fred Biletnikoff Award (best wide receiver)

  1. D’haquille Williams, Auburn
  2. Laquon Treadwell, Ole Miss
  3. Pharoh Cooper, South Carolina

The SEC has just two Biletnikoff winners in league history, Cooper last year and LSU’s Josh Reed back in 2001. It seems unlikely that the conference will pull of a back-to-back win, but there are certainly candidates. Williams and Treadwell are both dominating physical forces, while Cooper could see as many touches as any receiver in the nation.

Outland Trophy (best interior lineman)

  1. Laremy Tunsil, Ole Miss
  2. Robert Nkemdiche, Ole Miss
  3. Greg Pyke, Georgia
  4. Denver Kirkland, Arkansas
  5. Cam Robinson, Alabama

The Outland actually is supposed to go to an interior lineman, but an OT has won the award twice in the last three years, so make of that what you will. Tunsil and Kirkland are the conference’s three best linemen on the offensive side, while Pyke actually plays on the interior. So does Nkemdiche on defense, and he’s the most dominating player in the SEC.

Rimington Trophy (best center)

  1. Ryan Kelly, Alabama
  2. Evan Boehm, Missouri
  3. Mike Matthews, Texas A&M
  4. Mitch Smothers, Arkansas

Center is actually one of the SEC’s most loaded positions, and competition for the first-team All-SEC slot is going to be intense. You could order these four any way you want.

Chuck Bednarik Award/Bronko Nagurski Award (best defensive player)

  1. Nkemdiche
  2. Leonard Floyd, Georgia
  3. Carl Lawson, Auburn
  4. Derek Barnett, Tennessee

Nkemdiche is the best defensive player in the SEC, but his lack of stats as a nose tackle might prevent him from bringing home the hardware. The trio of Floyd, Lawson and Barnett should all rack up huge sack and tackle-for-loss numbers that will put them among the nation’s leaders.

Dick Butkus Award (best linebacker)

  1. Floyd
  2. Reggie Ragland, Auburn
  3. Lorenzo Carter, Georgia

Georgia’s duo here are both going to rack up huge numbers, with Carter primed for a breakout season. Meanwhile, Ragland will be the man in the middle on what should be an excellent run defense, and he’ll rack up big tackles numbers on a team that, as always, will get plenty of national attention.

Jim Thorpe Award (best defensive back)

  1. Vernon Hargreaves, Florida
  2. Tony Conner, Ole Miss
  3. Cameron Sutton, Tennessee

Alabama’s Landon Collins was a finalist for this last year, and while Alabama might not have a candidate for the award in 2015 there are several other DBs around the conference that will contend for it. Hargreaves is perhaps the best cornerback in the nation, while Sutton is massively underrated as a shutdown guy. Tony Conner will emerge as the leader of the Rebels’ secondary, and with the national attention the Ole Miss defense will draw he’ll be a hot name.

Lou Groza Award (best kicker)

  1. Austin MacGinnis, Kentucky
  2. Marshall Morgan, Georgia

Morgan had a bit of a down year last season, but with all the variables that go into kicking we expect a big bounce-back year. Meanwhile, MacGinnis was one of the best freshman kickers in the nation last year, and he has a big leg that will be put to use at UK.

Ray Guy Award (best punter)

  1. JK Scott, Alabama
  2. Drew Kaser, Texas A&M

Scott and Kaser have both been finalists for the award in the last two years (Kaser in 2013, Scott in 2014), and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see either of them at the awards ceremony this winter. These two have us hoping for a defensive struggle when Alabama and Texas A&M meet (unlikely, we know) just to watch them have a punt-off.