Aug. 24, 2006

IRVING, Texas - The Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando, Inc. (DACO), the organization which annually presents the prestigious Butkus Award to the nation's best collegiate linebacker, has announced the preliminary list of 65 candidates for this year's award. Seven of the candidates hail from Conference USA.

Tulsa teammates Nick Bunting and Nelson Coleman are joined by UTEP standouts Troy Collavo and Jeremy Jones, along with Houston's Wade Koehl, Marshall's Dennis Thornton and UAB's Mastaki Smith as C-USA's representatives on the list.

The Butkus Award® Watch List will be trimmed to 10 semi-finalists on Thursday, October 19. That semi-finalist list will be cut down to three finalists which will be announced via a national teleconference with players, coaches, media members and Butkus Award® officials on Thursday, November 9. The winner will be announced Saturday, December 9, 2006 at the Butkus Award® Gala in Orlando, Fla.. The Butkus Award® will be presented to the winner by the award's namesake former University of Illinois and Chicago Bear NFL Hall of Fame member, Dick Butkus. The finalists, their coaches and families are invited to attend the Butkus Award® Gala festivities including a welcome reception, golf tournament and silent auction.

The independent Butkus Award® Selection Committee for the 2006 Butkus Award®, comprised of some of the nation's foremost journalists, is solely and exclusively responsible for all voting in the Butkus Award® selection process. Additional Watch List candidates may be added in the coming weeks due to outstanding in-season play. Voting for the three finalists and the Butkus Award® winner will be conducted by exclusive confidential ballots of the selection committee.

The Butkus Award ® is regarded as one of the most elite individual honors in college football. Past recipients include such outstanding linebackers as: Paul Posluszny (2005-Penn State); Derrick Johnson (2004-Texas) Teddy Lehman (2003-Oklahoma); E.J. Henderson (2002-Maryland); Rocky Calmus (2001-Oklahoma); Dan Morgan (2000-Miami (FL); LaVar Arrington (1999-Penn State); Chris Claiborne (1998-Southern California); Andy Katzenmoyer (1997-Ohio State); Matt Russell (1996 Colorado); Kevin Hardy (1995-Illinois); Dana Howard (1994-Illinois); Trev Alberts (1993-Nebraska); Marvin Jones (1992-Florida State); Erick Anderson (1991-Michigan); Alfred Williams (1990-Colorado); Percy Snow (1989-Michigan State); Derrick Thomas (1988-Alabama); Paul McGowan (1997-Florida State); and Brian Bosworth (1985 and 1986-Oklahoma). Created in 1985 by the Downtown Athletic Club of Orlando Inc., the Butkus Award® carries the name and support of one of the greatest middle linebackers in football history, Dick Butkus.

The following candidates have been recommended for the 2006 Butkus Award® Watch List by the Butkus Award® Selection Committee comprised of national media members.

2006 Butkus Award Watch List:

Abbate, Jon	Wake Forest
Alexander, Rufus	Oklahoma
Alston, Mike	Toledo
Andrews, Dwayne	Fresno State
Archer, Brandon	Kansas State
Beason, Jon	Miami (Fla.)
Bell, Beau	UNLV
Bishop, Desmond	California
Blades, H.B.	Pittsburgh
Bouie, Keyonvis	Florida International
Bunting, Nick	Tulsa
Caldwell, Rob	Navy
Castelo, Matt	San Jose State
Coleman, Nelson	Tulsa
Collavo, Troy	UTEP
Connor, Dan	Penn State
Crum, Maurice	Notre Dame
Davis, Buster	Florida State
Davis, Scott	Washington State
Dizon, Jordan	Colorado
Edwards, Larry	North Carolina
Everett, Earl	Florida
Felder, Anthony	California
Graves, Phillip	North Texas
Hall, KaMichael	Georgia Tech
Hall, Korey	Boise State
Hall, Vince	Virginia Tech
Harris, David	Michigan
Harris, Nate	Louisville
Herron, David	Michigan State
Highsmith, Ali	LSU
Holtzclaw, Dan	Eastern Michigan
Ismail, Ameer	Western Michigan
Jackson, Jarvis	Georgia
Jensen, Cameron	BYU
Jones, Jeremy	UTEP
Koehl, Wade	Houston
Latimer, Zach	Oklahoma
Leman, J	 	Illinois
Maualuga, Rey	USC
McKeon, Corey	Nebraska
McLee, Kevin	West Virginia
Miles, Edmund	Iowa
Muncy, Matt	Ohio
Nicholas, Stephen	South Florida
Olajubutu, Sam	Arkansas
Phillips, Blair	Oregon
Phillips, Jason	TCU
Posluszny, Paul 	Penn State
Rivers, Keith	USC
Sabb, J.K.	Middle Tennessee
Shelvin, John	Minnesota
Siler, Brandon	Florida
Simpson, Juwan	Alabama
Smith, Corey	Cincinnati
Smith, Kelvin	Syracuse
Smith, Mastaki	UAB
Thornton, Dennis	Marshall
Toal, Brian	Boston College
Warren, Justin	Texas A&M
Washington, Thaddaeus Colorado
Waters, Anthony	Clemson
Willis, Patrick	Mississippi
Woodyard, Wesley	Kentucky
Zalewski, Mark	Wisconsin