College Football Awards: Predicting the Winners of Tonight's Major Awards

College Football fans around the country are eagerly anticipating Saturday night's Heisman ceremony in New York City, but we won't have to wait that long to see some of the sport's elite players honored with postseason accolades. 

Tonight, the annual College Football Awards Show will once again take place at the Atlantic Dance Hall down in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, and it will be broadcast live on ESPN starting at 9 pm ET.

All of the biggest names in college football, including the five Heisman finalists—Andrew Luck, Montee Ball, Robert Griffin III, Trent Richardson and Tyrann Mathieu, will be in attendance.

Here's a look at my picks for the nine major awards that will be handed out during tonight's show.

Maxwell Award: Trent Richardson

Awarded For: Player of the Year

Nominees

Andrew Luck, Stanford

Kellen Moore, Boise State

Trent Richardson, Alabama

Alabama's Trent Richardson may come up empty in his bid to win the 2011 Heisman, but Richardson will likely still have some hardware to put up on his mantle after tonight.

Richardson rushed for 1,583 yards and scored 23 touchdowns this season, and he was the true catalyst for Alabama's offensive success. The junior powerhouse looked like a man amongst boys for much of the season, and he was a big reason the Tide made it to the title game.

Davey O’Brien Award: Robert Griffin III

Awarded For: The Nation’s Best Quarterback

Nominees

Andrew Luck, Stanford

Case Keenum, Houston

Robert Griffin III, Baylor

Andrew Luck may be the future No. 1 pick in next year's draft, and Case Keenum may be college football's all-time passing leader, but it was Robert Griffin III who was the best college quarterback of 2011.

Griffin came up just two yards short of a 4,000-yard passing season, but he did manage to toss 36 touchdown strikes and finish off the year with a 192 passer rating.

The junior signal-caller showed that he wasn't just your average dual-threat quarterback, as he helped carry Baylor to a 9-3 record and a Top-15 national ranking.

Biletnikoff Award: Justin Blackmon

Awarded For: The Most Outstanding Receiver

Nominees

Justin Blackmon, Oklahoma State

Robert Woods, USC

Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma

Former Texas Tech receiver Michael Crabtree is the only college player to win two straight Biletnikoff awards, but Crabtree could have some company if Oklahoma State's Justin Blackmon holds off Robert Woods and brings home this year's trophy.

Blackmon, who caught 113 passes for 1,336 yards and hauled in 15 touchdowns this season, made headlines yesterday when he confirmed what everyone was expecting and said that he planned to enter the 2012 NFL draft.

Now, we'll see if the junior highlight-reel maker can make headlines tonight by being crowned college football's top wide receiver for the second year in a row.

Doak Walker Award: Montee Ball

Awarded For: The Most Outstanding Running Back

Nominees

LaMichael James, Oregon

Montee Ball, Wisconsin

Trent Richardson, Alabama

Even though Trent Richardson has to be the favorite for the award, I'm hoping Montee Ball can take home a little hardware of his own, especially if Richardson wins the Maxwell Award.

Ball certainly deserves to be rewarded for the tremendous season he had this year.

The junior rushed for 1,759 yards and scored 38 total touchdowns in 2011, and he was a key weapon for Wisconsin's potent and powerful offense.

Chuck Bednarik Award: Tyrann Mathieu

Awarded For: Defensive Player of the Year

Nominees

DT Devon Still, Penn State

LB Dont’a Hightower, Alabama

CB Tyrann Mathieu, LSU

LSU CB Tyrann Mathieu took the college football world by storm this season and became one of the most notable figures in the sport as just a sophomore.

The Honey Badger made crucial plays at critical times on both defense and in the return game, as he became the spotlight player on the nation's No. 1 team.

Mathieu always played much bigger than his 5'9'' frame, and he's now likely going to take home the nation's top defensive honor for his efforts.

Outland Trophy: Devon Still

Awarded For: The Most Outstanding Linemen

Nominees

OG Barrett Jones, Alabama

DT David DeCastro, Stanford

OG Devon Still, Penn State

Even though we've seen guys like Ndamukong Suh and Glenn Dorsey win the Outland Trophy in the past, it usually takes a pretty special defensive tackle to receive consideration for the award.

Well, Penn State's Devon Still had the type of special season that definitely deserves recognition.

Still was the glue and the lynchpin for Penn State's Top-10 defense, as he was a true monster in the middle, who caused all type of havoc for opposing offenses all year long.

The scary 6'5'', 310-pound senior racked up 17 tackles for loss and five sacks, and he was constantly making his presence felt in opposing backfields.

Jim Thorpe Award: Morris Claiborne

Awarded For: The Most Outstanding Defensive Back

Nominees

David Amerson, North Carolina State

Mark Barron, Alabama

Morris Claiborne, LSU

I'm not sure why LSU's Tyrann Mathieu wasn't included on the final list of candidates, but the Tigers still have a chance to bring home a second consecutive Jim Thorpe Award.

Patrick Peterson won the honor last season, and now it looks like Morris Claiborne will be the one to bring the award back to Baton Rouge.

Claiborne didn't receive the type of publicity that teammate Tyrann Mathieu did this season, but he did lead the Tigers with six interceptions, and he's shown that he has all the makings of a future Top-10 NFL draft pick.

Since he led the country with 11 interceptions, David Amerson definitely has a case to make as to why he deserves this award, and I also wouldn't be surprised if Mark Barron won it as sort of a career achievement honor, but if we're going purely by who's the best defensive back out of the three, then I think Claiborne has to be the guy.

Lou Groza Award: Randy Bullock

Awarded For: The Most Outstanding Kicker

Nominees

Caleb Sturgis, Florida

Dustin Hopkins, Florida State

Randy Bullock, Texas A&M

Texas A&M may have had one of the most disappointing campaigns of 2011, but at least the Aggies can boast about having the nation's top kicker.

Randy Bullock made 25 of his 29 field goal attempts and he finished eighth in the country with 127 total points.

Ray Guy Award: Jackson Rice

Awarded For: The Most Outstanding Punter

Nominees

Jackson Rice, Oregon

Ryan Allen, Louisiana Tech

Steven Clark, Auburn

My vote for the best punter in the country would go to LSU's Brad Wing, but since he wasn't included with the final nominees, I'll have to go with Oregon's Jackson Rice instead.

Rice is deserving in his own right, as he led the Pac-12 with a 45.8 yard punting average, and he had punts of over 50 yards in all but two games.

Pre-Show Awards

The Rimington Trophy, which is awarded to the top center in college football, and the John Mackey Award, which is awarded to the top tight end in college football, will both be handed out during the pre-show.

For the Rimington Trophy, I’m picking Wisconsin’s Peter Konz, and for the John Mackey Award, I’m going with Notre Dame’s Tyler Eifert.