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          Kirk Herbstreit's 2015 Herbie Awards and College Football Playoff picks

          • Kirk Herbstreit, College Football analystAug 27, 2015, 10:00 AM ET
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              Kirk Herbstreit has been an ESPN college football studio analyst since August 1996. Herbstreit, who joined ESPN in September 1995 as a college football sideline analyst for ESPN2, is also a game analyst for ESPN's Thursday night college football telecasts.

          Here are the candidates and winners of the 2015 Herbie Awards, plus my picks for the College Football Playoff.

          The Enforcer

          Nominees: Jamal Adams, LSU; Nate Andrews, Florida State; Su'a Cravens, USC; Darron Lee, Ohio State; Ryan Simmons, Oklahoma State

          And the Herbie goes to ... Lee.

          Best Pass-Rusher

          Nominees: Joey Bosa, Ohio State; Kamalei Correa, Boise State; Myles Garrett, Texas A&M; Curt Maggitt, Tennessee; Scooby Wright III, Arizona

          And the Herbie goes to ... Bosa.

          Welcome to the Party

          Nominees: Mike Bercovici, Arizona State; Minkah Fitzpatrick, Alabama; Jeremy Johnson, Auburn; Jabrill Peppers, Michigan; Malik Zaire, Notre Dame

          And the Herbie goes to ... Johnson.

          Throwback Player

          Nominees: Joey Bosa, Ohio State; Nick Chubb, Georgia; Myles Jack, UCLA; Bronson Kaufusi, BYU; Scooby Wright III, Arizona

          And the Herbie goes to ... Bosa.

          Top Cover Men

          Nominees: Kendall Fuller, Virginia Tech; Vernon Hargreaves III, Florida; Jalen Ramsey, Florida State; KeiVarae Russell, Notre Dame; Tre'Davious White, LSU

          And the Herbie goes to ... Fuller.

          Best-Kept Secret

          Nominees: Jeremy Cash, Duke; Brandon Doughty, Western Kentucky; O.J. Howard, Alabama; Kolby Listenbee, TCU; Christian McCaffrey, Stanford

          And the Herbie goes to ... Doughty.

          Ultimate Game-Changer

          Nominees: Corey Coleman, Baylor; Ezekiel Elliott, Ohio State; Leonard Fournette, LSU; Samaje Perine, Oklahoma; Deshaun Watson, Clemson

          And the Herbie goes to ... Elliott.

          Ultimate Herbie

          Nominees: D.J. Foster, Arizona State; Joshua Perry, Ohio State; Joe Schmidt, Notre Dame; Sterling Shepard, Oklahoma; Laquon Treadwell, Ole Miss

          And the Herbie goes to ... Schmidt.

          Breakout Star

          Nominees: Corey Clement, Wisconsin; Jalen Hurd, Tennessee; Raekwon McMillan, Ohio State; Mason Rudolph, Oklahoma State; Seth Russell, Baylor

          And the Herbie goes to ... Russell.

          Unsung Warrior

          Nominees: Kendell Beckwith, LSU; Glenn Gronkowski, Kansas State; Karl Joseph, West Virginia; Ryan Kelly, Alabama; Derek Watt, Wisconsin

          And the Herbie goes to ... Joseph.

          Most Exciting Player

          Nominees: Corey Coleman, Baylor; D.J. Foster, Arizona State; Braxton Miller, Ohio State; Justin Thomas, Georgia Tech; JuJu Smith-Schuster, USC

          And the Herbie goes to ... Thomas.

          Looks the Part

          Nominees: Leonard Fournette, LSU; Myles Jack, UCLA ; Darron Lee, Ohio State; Marquez North, Tennessee ; Shawn Oakman, Baylor

          And the Herbie goes to ... Oakman.

          Conference Winners

          Big Ten: Ohio State Buckeyes over Wisconsin Badgers
          Big 12: Oklahoma Sooners
          SEC: LSU Tigers over Tennessee Volunteers
          ACC: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets over Florida State Seminoles
          Pac-12: Arizona State Sun Devils over Stanford Cardinal

          College Football Playoff Teams

          Ohio State Buckeyes
          LSU Tigers
          Oklahoma Sooners
          Arizona State Sun Devils

          National Champion

          Ohio State Buckeyes