Travis Hunter is headed to New York City.

Hunter on Monday was named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, the most prestigious individual award in college football.

Hunter is looking to become the second player in Buffaloes history to win the Heisman after the late Rashaan Salaam in 1994. He’s the fourth finalist in CU history, joining Salaam, Eric Bieniemy (1990) and Darian Hagan (1989). 

CU teammate Shedeur Sanders did not make the finalists cut. Joining Hunter are Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel and Miami quarterback Cam Ward. Hunter remains the overwhelming favorite on the betting markets.

On offense, Hunter led the Buffs in catches (92), receiving yards (1,152) and receiving touchdowns (14), the last of which was a single-season program record. He ranked first, second and first in those three categories, respectively, in the Big 12 and was first-team all-conference at wide receiver.

But the reason Hunter remains the favorite to win the award is because he was also first-team all-Big 12 at cornerback and was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year after racking up 31 tackles, one for loss, four interceptions, 11 pass breakups and one forced fumble. 

Hunter appeared in all 12 regular season games during CU’s 9-3 campaign but missed a full four quarters across two games. 

The likely challenger to Hunter for the award is Jeanty, the Boise State star who led the Broncos to a Mountain West championship and the No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff.

The junior has put up numbers rivaled by the all-time great running backs in college football history. Through 13 games, Jeanty has 2,497 yards on over 7 yards per carry to go with 30 total touchdowns (29 rushing, 1 receiving).

He is just 132 rushing yards away from breaking the single-season record set by Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders in 1988. Jeanty will get his chance to become the new single-season rushing king against either No. 6 Penn State or No. 11 SMU in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

Gabriel led the Ducks to the No. 1 overall seed in the CFP and a 13-0 record, which included a Big Ten championship in the program’s first season in the conference.

Through 13 games, he’s thrown for 3,558 yards and 28 touchdowns while completing over 73% of his passes. 

Now in his sixth season of college football across three schools, Gabriel has thrown for over 18,000 passing yards and is fewer than 800 yards away from breaking Case Keenum’s career passing record — a record he may set if Oregon makes it all the way to the national championship game on Jan. 20.

If Hunter wins the Heisman, he’ll become just the second defensive player to win the award and the first since Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson won it in 1997. Woodson is also the only current winner to have played significant snaps on both sides of the ball, but his offensive production was nowhere near Hunter’s from this season.

In 1997, Woodson had 11 catches for 231 yards and two touchdowns, to go with three carries for 15 yards and a touchdown on the ground — which is 81 catches, 921 yards and 12 total touchdowns fewer than Hunter.

Woodson did serve as Michigan’s primary punt returner, something Hunter did not do, and had 33 returns for 283 yards and a touchdown on special teams.

Former LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels, now with the Washington Commanders, is the reigning Heisman winner. Former Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith is the last non-quarterback to win the award and the only non-quarterback or running back to win since Woodson. 

The Buffs made a strong push to get Sanders to join Hunter as a finalist for the Heisman. Hunter said his quarterback and close friend is invited regardless, but Sanders won’t have an empty trophy case as he recently accepted the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award for the nation’s top quarterback last weekend in Baltimore. 

Sanders is also a finalist for the Davey O’Brien Award, also given to the nation’s best quarterback, and the winner will be announced at 7 p.m. Thursday during the 34th annual college football awards show on ESPN.

Hunter is also a finalist for several awards announced that night, including the Maxwell Award for the overall player of the year, the Walter Camp player of the year award, the Chuck Bednarik Award for the top defensive player and the Biletnikoff Award for the top wide receiver.

On Monday, he was given the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which is given to the top defensive player in college football according to their athletic ability on the field and character off of it.