DALLAS (FWAA) – Wisconsin offensive tackle Gabe Carimi, Florida State offensive guard Rodney Hudson and Colorado offensive tackle Nate Solder have been named finalists for the 65th Outland Trophy, which is awarded to the best interior lineman in college football by the Football Writers Association of America.

The winner of the Outland Trophy will be announced on the evening of Dec. 9 during "The Home Depot College Football Awards Show" at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. The show, hosted by Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard, airs from 7-9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Carimi, a 6-7, 327-pound senior from Cottage Grove, Wis., has been a stalwart at left tackle for Wisconsin since taking over for 2006 Outland Trophy winner Joe Thomas at the beginning of the 2007 season. He has started 47 games in four seasons for the Badgers (10-1), who will conclude the 2010 regular season Saturday against Northwestern. Carimi was a part of a dominating offensive line in the Badgers' 83-20 defeat of Indiana when running back John Clay was sidelined with an injury. Carimi and the rest of the Wisconsin line were co-Badger Offensive Players of Week in a 41-23 victory over Minnesota this season. Carimi is one of the main reasons Wisconsin is 12th in the nation in rushing and in the hunt for a Rose Bowl berth heading into the final week of the regular season.

Hudson, a 6-2, 282-pound senior from Mobile, Ala., has a chance to be in a select group of Atlantic Coast Conference players. Presumably, he will be named All-ACC for the fourth straight season and will become the seventh player in ACC history to be so named. He has played all three positions on the offensive line – center, guard and tackle – during his career. Hudson also appears to be headed to a second straight Jacobs Blocking Trophy, which is awarded annually by ACC head coaches and defensive coordinators to the most outstanding blocker in the conference. He has been the ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week twice this season. Despite injuries to several members of the Seminole offensive line this season, Hudson has been one of the main reasons Florida State has been able to run the ball effectively on its way to an 8-3 record. 

Solder, a 6-9, 315-pound senior from Buena Vista, Colo., is also a finalist for the National Football Foundation's William V. Campbell Trophy, considered the "Academic Heisman." He graduated last May with a degree in biology and is a three-time first-team All-Big 12 selection. He is now taking post-graduate courses in integrative physiology. He is the team captain of the Buffaloes, who are 5-6 and playing Nebraska this Friday to become bowl eligible, despite a season in which there has been an in-season coaching change. Solder is the main reason CU's rushing game has been effective.

The Outland Trophy, which has been awarded annually by the FWAA since 1946, is named after the late John Outland, an All-America lineman at Pennsylvania at the turn of the century. The Outland Trophy is the third-oldest award in major college football behind the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award.

The official 2010 award presentation will be Jan. 13, 2011, in Omaha, Neb., at a banquet sponsored by the Greater Omaha Sports Committee. That group will present an Outland Trophy to a yet-to-be-named former winner at the banquet.

The Football Writers Association of America, a non-profit organization founded in 1941, consists of more than 1,200 men and women who cover college football for a living. The membership includes journalists, broadcasters and publicists, as well as key executives in all the areas that involve the game. The FWAA works to govern areas that include gameday operations, major awards and its annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its award programs, contact Steve Richardson at tiger@fwaa.com or 972-713-6198.

The Outland Trophy is a member of the National College Football Awards Association (NCFAA). The NCFAA was founded in 1997 as a coalition of the major collegiate football awards to protect, preserve and enhance the integrity, influence and prestige of the game's predominant awards. The NCFAA encourages professionalism and the highest standards for the administration of its member awards and the selection of their candidates and recipients. For more information, visit the association's official Web site, ncfaa.org.

For more information on the Outland Trophy, go to the official website, www.outlandtrophy.com, or contact FWAA executive director Steve Richardson (972-713-6198 or tiger@fwaa.com).

Related links:
• Official site (outlandtrophy.com) | All-time Outland winners
• National College Football Awards Association (ncfaa.org)
• collegepressbox.com (for logo/photo downloads)