It could be any day now. President Obama is said to have settled on a slimmed-down list of possible Supreme Court nominees. Three names have climbed to the top of the heap, as first reported by NPR’s uber-connected SCOTUS correspondent Nina Totenberg. Unlike Mr. Obama’s two previous nominees, the three leading names all belong to male judges, with each offering unique pluses and minuses.

Sri Srinivasan – D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals

Since day one, Judge Sri Srinivasan has been a consistent leading candidate for Justice Antonin Scalia’s SCOTUS vacancy. The Senate unanimously confirmed Srinivasan to the nation’s most influential appellate court in 2013, where he’s crafted middle-of-the-road opinions that would, in normal times, earn him diverse support on Capitol Hill. These, of course, are not normal times. And Srinivasan hasn’t been an automatic consensus candidate. But he’s as close as Mr. Obama will get in 2016. Srinivasan was born in India before moving with his family to Kansas in his youth. The 49-year-old judge would be the high court’s first Hindu and Asian-American justice.

Merrick B. Garland – Chief Judge, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals

Mile-long resumes usually help applicants land plum jobs. In Merrick B. Garland’s case, it may sink his chances. Garland is the chief judge of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, where he’s been on the bench since 1997. The White House has promised a nominee with rock-solid credentials. If Mr. Obama selects Garland, the AP reports, “…a white 63-year-old with an Ivy-League, East-Coast background, would not add diversity to the court. But with a reputation as a judicial moderate and with broad respect in Washington, Garland could put maximum pressure on some GOP senators to crack from leadership opposition.” Nearly 20 years on the federal bench also carries two decades of potentially problematic opinions on controversial topics that Republicans could trot out during confirmation hearings.

Paul J. Watford – U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit

The final top-liner is Paul J. Watford, a 48-year-old appellate court judge based in San Francisco. He would be the third African-American justice in the court’s history. Watford, fortunately for his odds, hasn’t left many judicial or philosophical fingerprints, with only three years on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. “Regarded as a moderate appointee, he was also a clerk to influential 9th Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” notes Politico. Watford wasn’t warmly received by the Senate during his 2013 confirmation battle, gaining 34 nay votes. If Mr. Obama plans to select a slam dunk candidate, Watford might not be his guy.