My Preseason All Big 12 Ballot

[UTK66]

Think I would've gone with Mahomes over Mayfield myself. 

 

[Mike Roach]

Oklahoma is the run away leader for me.  With most of their team returning, and a lethal offense under Baker Mayfield and Lincoln Riley on campus it would be tough to pick against them.

See, I don't understand your thinking here.  It almost sounds as if your are parroting ESPN.

What makes you think OU rocketed past the team that beat them last year (us)?  Especially since they won't be as good as last year and we will be so much better?

What has OU done to make everyone so giddy about them?  We dominated them last year with no QB and no real offensive identity.  We punched them in the mouth and they quit.

They will have a good team - they always do.  But don't be dazzled by others predictions - especially ESPN and Dave Campbell - neither of which know diddly about either team.

My thinking was that even though Texas beat Oklahoma (in a game where they flat out punched them in the mouth), I'm going to take a team coming off of a playoff appearance and returning a lot of experience.  They also have experience where it counts.  I believe Texas can get them again this year, but over the long stretch I like Oklahoma to win the conference.

 

[Mike Roach]

Think I would've gone with Mahomes over Mayfield myself. 

It was a tough decision.

 

[doc longhorn]

I totally understand Mike's thinking. Oklahoma was far and away the best team in the conference last year and Texas had absolutely no business beating them. Just as Iowa State had absolutely no business putting an embarrassing beat down on Texas. Both games were flukes.

And no one knows yet if Oklahoma will or won't be as good as last year or if we will or won't be much better than last year.

I disagree.  I'm not a supporter of "fluke" descriptions.  The sole purpose of all D-1 teams is to win football games.  They are awarded scholarships to work year round towards that purpose.  Outside of school, they are dedicated to winning.  Or they should be.

The RRR win or loss will never be considered a "fluke".  It has been and always will be the game of the year for both teams.  OU was expecting the usual UT effort and physically got the crap kicked out of them.  They simply weren't prepared for it.

Iowa State was the same in reverse.  They manhandled us along with some of the poorest coaching I have seen in years.  Defensive as well as offensive

(On this note and as much as I love Charlie Strong, this kind of defeat to this kind of team will be his coaching death knell at UT.  His won/loss record will be important, but not as much as another ISU type of embarrassment)

 

[Mike Roach]

Here's how everything shook out (my picks in bold)

QB - Baker Mayfield - Oklahoma

RB - Mike Warren - Iowa State

RB - Samaje Perine - Oklahoma

FB - Winston Dimel - Kansas State

WR - KD Cannon - Baylor

WR - Allen Lazard - Iowa State

WR - James Washington - Oklahoma State

TE - Mark Andrews - Oklahoma

OL - Kyle Fuller - Baylor

OL - Orlando Brown - Oklahoma

OL - Patrick Vahe - Texas

OL - Connor Williams - Texas

OL - Tyler Orlosky - West Virginia

PK - Clayton Hatfield - Texas Tech

KR/PR - KaVontae Turpin - TCU

Defense

DL - Will Geary - Kansas State

DL - Jordan Willis - Kansas State

DL - Charles Walker - Oklahoma

DL - Vincent Taylor - Oklahoma State

DL - Josh Carraway - TCU

DL - James McFarland - TCU

DL - Noble Nwachukwu - West Virginia

LB - Elijah Lee - Kansas State

LB - Jordan Evans - Oklahoma

LB - Malik Jefferson - Texas

DB - Dante Barnett - Kansas State

DB - Jordan Thomas - Oklahoma

DB - Jordan Sterns - Oklahoma State

DB - Davante Davis - Texas

P - Austin Seibert - Oklahoma

Offensive POY - Baker Mayfield - Oklahoma

Defensive POY - Malik Jefferson - Texas

Big 12 Newcomer of the year - Kenny Hill - TCU