As more than one court-watcher has already noted, this assumes that Obama could get anyone confirmed before a new president is elected and sworn into office, which is in grievous doubt. Republicans made it known, even before the rumors of Scalia's death were confirmed, that they would block any candidate put forward by the president, regardless of who that may be.

The White House has already pledged to nominate a replacement. "I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time," Obama said in a statement on Saturday following news of Scalia's death. "There will be plenty of time for me to do so and for the Senate to fulfill its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and timely vote." Not surprisingly, names of potential nominees are already being bandied about. As Jeffrey Toobin noted in a 2014 New Yorker survey of the growing farm team of Obama-appointed judicial talent, the list of his previous appointees on lower courts who have already made a name for themselves on those courts is impressive.

Here's a rundown of some of the top contenders for a potential nomination (if not an actual confirmation by the Republican-held Senate):