SB Nation 2009 All Big 12 Preseason Team

Seth C — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:55:12 -0000

You guys aren't going to be too happy.

The Big 12 blogs of SB Nation got together to vote on the All Big 12 2009 Preseason Team and as you might guess, the team was dominated by two other schools in the Big 12 South. I'll give you a few seconds to take a guess. In any event, we were asked to only nominating players that we thought had a realistic shot of being named to the all conference team and my nominees were as follows:

RB Baron Batch
QB Taylor Potts
OL Brandon Carter
OL Marlon Winn
WR Detron Lewis
WR Edward Britton

DT Colby Whitlock
LB Brian Duncan
LB Marlon Williams
DB Jamar Wall

You can imagine that I knew that Potts really didn't have a chance to make the team, but I still felt that he's going to have all-conference-like numbers by the time it's all said and done. The rest of them I felt was fairly solid picks and could conceivably be on an all-conference team at the end of the season.

When we were asked to vote, we could not vote for the team that we cover, thus I could not vote for any Red Raiders.

Now, without further delay . . .

The SB Nation 2009 All Big 12 Preseason Team

DEFENSE	OFFENSE	SPECIAL TEAMS
CB Dominique Franks, OU	OL Russell Okung, OSU	K Alex Henery, Nebraska
CB Perrish Cox, OSU	OL Adam Ulatoski, Texas	KR Dez Bryant, OSU
DE Sergio Kindle, Texas	OL Chris Hall, Texas	P Derek Epperson, Baylor
DE Auston English, OU	OL Trent Williams, OU
DL Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska	OL Kurtis Gregory, Missouri
DL Gerald McCoy, OU	QB Sam Bradford, OU
LB Joe Pawelek, Baylor	RB Kendall Hunter, OSU
LB Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri	RB DeMarco Murray, OU
LB Travis Lewis, OU	TE Jermaine Gresham, OU
S Darrell Stuckey, Kansas	WR Dez Bryant, OSU
S Jordan Lake, Baylor	WR Jordan Shipley, Texas
	WR Dezmon Briscoe, Kansas
	FB Matt Clapp, OU

Obviously, there's a pretty heavy lean towards the Big 12 South, and I was conscious of the fact that I seemed to be voting for quite a few South players and tried to be diligent in reviewing players that it wasn't due to a possible South bias. In any event, where did my fellow SB Nation writers get it wrong, and get it right? I thought Brandon Carter deserved a first team nod and corn blight of Corn Nation did a good job of breaking down offensive lines. Also, you might be able to project Detron Lewis as a first team receiver, but right now his numbers aren't up to par with Bryant, Shipley and Briscoe.

Comments and criticisms encouraged.

Shooting Pointe Blank: Get Out N’ Vote Edition

Blankman — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:00:08 -0000

First, if the polls are still open and you haven’t: GET OUT AND VOTE!

Now then: Norman, Oklahoma. I spent a month there one night. One thing I’ve learned in the game of football is that when a cornerback can not only jump your quarterback’s pass but do so in stride perhaps you’ve become too predictable. That pass is Shawn Watson’s Solich moment and reports indicate he hasn’t left the shower since Sunday trying to scrub that stank off. Yes, Nebraska got clobbered and they should’ve and why? Because a team, not just an extraordinarily loaded team, a team executed well. There are other Big XII North teams that have given Oklahoma more of a fight than Nebraska did. Take Kansas State for example.

I was chatting with a good friend of mine who pointed out KSU was tied with Oklahoma at 28-28 during their game at one point. Now the Okies did score four touchdowns in seven minutes to go into half at 55-28. Why is it that Ron Prince, a man that will surely not make it through the rest of the year, can coach a team that can come back from a 21 point deficit with 3:04 left in the first quarter against a team like Oklahoma yet Bo Pelini cannot? As my friend dutifully pointed out talent can be used as an excuse for half of that argument only and he’s right.

You know what I found interesting? There’s a young man by the name of Travis Lewis on Oklahoma’s roster. Travis was down to Nebraska and Oklahoma before deciding to go to OU at the last moment. I see a lot of talented true freshman on Nebraska’s sideline. David Whitmore, Josh Williams, Cameron Meredith, Sean Fisher, Will Compton. None of these young men have played. Travis Lewis is a fantastic talent and indeed, he redshirted, but he could afford to. He plays for Oklahoma in 2008. He led the team in tackles against Nebraska last Saturday. More than half he made himself.

I’m going to preface my following statement with this: I have no reason to dislike any player on the Nebraska roster until I hear a reason to do otherwise and you guys know that I make my dislike unknown. Vast majority of ‘em are probably great guys, I’ve gotten to meet a few really great ones, but you know what? Josh Williams would beat out Pierre Allen. Cameron Meredith would beat out Clayton Sievers. There is an answer to Larry Asante and Matt O’Hanlon and yet it’s not being scribbled down on the test that is athletic competition on Saturdays and I ask why?

If you can tell me, I’d love to know. Oh, of course the coaches play the best players, right, I forgot. So when these same guys who are not on the field beat out the same guys who are playing now next Spring then what? S&C Magic? Here’s a better question: WHEN, not if, WHEN these players beat out their competitors, what happens because they haven’t seen a down of Division 1-A football? I’ve said it before and I’ll said it again until I drop dead: Talent can only cover up so much.

Nebraska plays Florida Atlantic and Arkansas State before travelling to Blacksburg to play the Virginia Tech Hokies and return the favor for this year before coming home to play my lovable losers, the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns. Be glad. Be VERY glad because next comes Missouri in Columbia and while they may not be as good as 2008, they will be good enough to put a hurting on a team with a new starting QB and a lot of new faces on both sides of the ball.

I think Nebraska beats Kansas, I really do. I think Nebraska goes 3-0 in these final three games, beats a mediocre Big 10 team in a hot place and goes 8-4. Decent record, but there are still many management changes that need to be made both in personnel and staff. 2008 ain’t done yet, but I can still see glaring errors a mile away. Dave Gillespie recruited for Nebraska once. I know trouble when I see it.

SB Nation - Travis Lewis

SB Nation 2009 All Big 12 Preseason Team

The SB Nation 2009 All Big 12 Preseason Team

Shooting Pointe Blank: Get Out N’ Vote Edition

First, if the polls are still open and you haven’t: GET OUT AND VOTE!