When the Country Music Association revealed nominees for the 2018 CMA Awards in late August, as always, the list left country music fans with plenty to discuss. While there's some encouraging inclusions among this year's nominees, there are definitely some names missing.

Chris Stapleton leads this year's pack of CMA Awards nominees with seven total nominations -- certainly not a surprise. But when you look at the complete list of nominees, you're bound to notice a few glaring omissions -- in the Entertainer of the Year, New Artist of the Year and Song of the Year categories, for example.

No, we're not complaining about Garth Brooks not being nominated for Entertainer of the Year, nor are we too upset about not seeing Carrie Underwood or Eric Church in that category. But New Artist of the Year? Yeah, we've got a bone to pick.

Read on for 10 2018 CMA Awards observations that made us go "Hmmm ..."

The 2018 CMA Awards will air live from Nashville's Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 14. The show is scheduled to begin at 8PM ET on ABC, with Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood returning as co-hosts for an 11th year.

The Boot will be staying up late covering the most buzzed-about winners, fashion and moments at the 2018 CMA Awards. Readers can watch along with us by checking back to TheBoot.com for the latest CMAs headlines, liking The Boot on Facebook and following The Boot on Twitter.

Top 10 CMA Awards Moments

Unforgettable CMA Awards Controversies

More From 97.5 KGKL