2016 Naismith Trophy: Full List of Semifinalists Announced

On Wednesday, the NCAA revealed its 10 semifinalists for the Naismith Trophy, which is given to the top men's college basketball player in the nation.

Here is the full list of candidates, courtesy of NCAA.com:

Player	School	Class
Grayson Allen	Duke	Sophomore
Malcolm Brogdon	Virginia	Senior
Kris Dunn	Providence	Junior
Buddy Hield	Oklahoma	Senior
Brice Johnson	North Carolina	Senior
Jakob Poeltl	Utah	Sophomore
Ben Simmons	LSU	Freshman
Tyler Ulis	Kentucky	Sophomore
Jarrod Uthoff	Iowa	Senior
Denzel Valentine	Michigan State	Senior

The list will be whittled down to four players March 20 before a winner is selected during the Final Four on April 3. 

This year's crop of semifinalists appears to be strong on paper, but it can be argued that Oklahoma's Buddy Hield is the favorite, thanks to his scoring average of 25.3 points per game.

Per ESPN Stats & Info, the Bahamas native has been a dominant force in the Big 12 this season for one of the nation's top teams:

It is far from a runaway, though, as essentially every player on the list has a fairly strong case for why he should be considered for the award.

There is a significant veteran presence, with five seniors and one junior, while just one freshman made the cut—LSU's Ben Simmons.

It may be tough for Simmons to become the first freshman to win the award since Kentucky's Anthony Davis in 2012, given LSU's inconsistency as a team, but he has been remarkable from an individual perspective, with 19.7 points and 11.9 rebounds per contest.

According to SportsCenter, no major conference player has more double-doubles than Simmons during the 2015-16 campaign:

The remainder of the regular season and the conference tournaments could change the Naismith landscape significantly, and there is still plenty of time for any of the semifinalists to emerge as a clear front-runner.

Parity has been the theme of this college basketball season from a team perspective, but based on the competitiveness of the Naismith race, that can be said about the top players as well.

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