Maxwell Award (Outstanding collegiate football player)
Redshirt junior quarterback John Brantley
Junior running back Jeff Demps
» Previous winner(s): Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007, 2008)

Chuck Bednarik Award (Outstanding collegiate defender)
Senior safety Ahmad Black
» Previous winner(s): None

Rimington Trophy (Outstanding offensive center)
Senior center Mike Pouncey
» Previous winner(s): Maurkice Pouncey (2009)

Jim Thorpe Award (Outstanding defensive back)
Junior cornerback Janoris Jenkins
Junior safety Will Hill
» Previous winner(s): Lawrence Wright (1996)

Ray Guy Award (Outstanding collegiate punter)
Must display team leadership, self-discipline and positive impact on team’s success
Senior punter Chas Henry
» Previous winner(s): None

Senior quarterback Tim Tebow, who was up for the 2009 Davey O’Brien Award (best collegiate quarterback) and 2009 Maxwell Award (best all-around player), was defeated for both by Texas Longhorns QB Colt McCoy. Tebow took home the O’Brien Award in 2007 and is a two-time winner of the Maxwell Award (2007, 2008). Senior middle linebacker Brandon Spikes lost the 2009 Chuck Bednarik Award (best defensive player) to Nebraska Cornhuskers defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh; junior cornerback Joe Haden was defeated by Tennessee Volunteers safety Eric Berry for the 2009 Jim Thorpe Award (best defensive back); and Georgia Bulldogs punter Drew Butler won the 2009 Ray Guy Award (best collegiate punter) over junior Chas Henry. 2009 Heisman Trophy ceremony is on Saturday at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

2 » Edward Aschoff over at the Gainesville Sun has compiled a comprehensive list of high school football players expected to visit Gainesville, FL, for the Florida vs. Florida State Seminoles game on Saturday. Among them are 12 current commitments (Elam, Christian, Brown, Burton, Watkins, Patton, Orr, Silberman, Ball, Trail, Haden, Van) as well as 5-star, 4-star and 3-star recruits. OGGOA reported via twitter that five-star safety commit Matt Elam rescheduled his official visit for Dec. 12, but he may also visit unofficially this weekend.

3 » No. 5 women’s cross country finished in seventh-place at the 2009 NCAA Championships on Monday afternoon. The highest finish in program history, the Gators were the only Southeastern Conference team competing in the event. The top-10 finish was the first in program history, according to the Sports Information Department. “We’ve had a tremendous year, cross country coach Todd Morgan said. “We won the SEC and the South Regional Championships and today, we finished top 10 in the country for the first time. We’re definitely leaving here feeling like we didn’t run totally on cylinders, which is a great thing because we still finished so well.”

4 » On Sunday, senior Florida libero Elyse Cusack moved into second place on the SEC’s all-time career digs list. Her great weekend was capped off with an SEC Defensive Player of the Week honor announced by the conference on Monday. This is Cusack’s 12th time winning the award, her third this season. Since the SEC started handing out this award for volleyball in 2003, the Gators have won it 22 times – more than any other program.

Tebow is a two-time Maxwell Award winner (2007, 2008) who was the first sophomore ever selected to receive the honor. He is also only the second two-time winner in the award’s history along with Notre Dame Fighting Irish halfback John Lattner.