Here's where we are. Football season is still too far away to start talking about match-ups but close enough to begin discussing who we think should be pre-season All Conference. Well spend the next several weeks voting on the best players at each position to come up with a first team offense and defense along with rankings of the North and South divisions.
Suddenly you have the power to select your own All Conference squad. It's the voice of the fan the way it should be. Here's how it works. Once the position has been posted you simply cast your vote in the poll on the right sidebar. If you feel the need to defend your nomination or to bag on another feel free to use the diaries.
Schools who are unsettled at the quarterback positions (i.e. Oklahoma & Nebraska) will obviously be excluded from having an All-Conference quarterback candidate. So, without further delay here are the candidates.
Chase Daniel - Missouri
Last Season: First-year starter who had the unenviable task of replacing legendary record-setting QB Brad Smith, and promptly attained legendary status of his own, setting numerous passing records on his own, and helped lead the Tigers to 8 regular-season wins for just the 10th time in school history ... Shattered MU single-season records for passing yards (3,527 - old mark was 2,436 by Jeff Handy in 1992), and passing TDs (28 - old mark was 18 by Terry McMillan in 1969), among many other records ... Also broke Smith's season record for TDs responsible for, with 32, and total offense, with a record 3,906 yards of offense - his per-game average of 300.5 ranked 5th in the NCAA, the highest a Tiger has rated in that category since Bob Steuber was 3rd in the nation in total offense in 1942 ... Named 2nd-Team All-Big 12 quarterback by league coaches, and twice won the Big 12's weekly offensive player of the week, after huge outings in the regular season opener against Murray State (320 yards, MU game-record 5 TDs), and in the regular-season finale against Kansas (356 yards, 4 TDs).
Josh Freeman - Kansas State
Last Season: Appeared in 11-of-13 games, including starts in the final eight contests of the season... Took over at quarterback during the second half of game No. 5 at Baylor and directed the K-State offense the rest of the season... Earned honorable mention freshman All-America honors from The Sporting News... Was the lone true freshman quarterback in the country to lead his team to a bowl game during 2006... Threw for a K-State freshman record 1,780 yards on 140-of-270 passing (52 percent)... Passed for 244 yards or more in four of his eight starting assignments... Finished the regular season with 764 passing yards in the final three games, the most at K-State over a three-game stretch since 1998... Also had consecutive 250-plus yard passing games against Colorado and Texas, marking the first time a K-State quarterback had done so since 1998... Averaged 204.1 yards passing in conference games to rank sixth in the league... Threw for 691 yards on 55-for-77 passing (71.4-percent) during K-State's late season three-game winning streak... Twice earned Big 12 Player-of-the-Week accolades after wins at Colorado and vs. Texas.
Graham Harrell - Texas Tech
Last Season: Harrell passed for an eye popping 4,555 yards last season with 38 touchdowns to only 11 interceptions. He passed for 519 yards against Texas, 483 against Baylor, and exceeded 300 plus yards in passing eight times and passed for 4 or more touchdowns five times.
Colt McCoy - Texas
Last Season: Started all 13 games ... a Davey O'Brien Award semifinalist ... recognized as The Sporting News' National Freshman of the Year ... honored as the Touchdown Club of Columbus' National Freshman of the Year ... was twice named the Cingular All-America Player of the Week ... named the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year by the league's coaches and the Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year by The Associated Press ... earned second-team All-Big 12 honors ... claimed Alamo Bowl Offensive MVP honors ... named the George "Hook" McCullough Co-MVP along with Aaron Ross ... tabbed the Darrell K Royal Most Valuable Offensive Player ... became the first freshman QB in UT history to win 10 games... completed 217-of-318 passes (68.2%) for 2,570 yards and 29 TDs (seven INTs) ... the 29 TD passes set a UT single-season record and tied the NCAA's single-season freshman mark ... set UT's single-game record with six TD passes against Baylor ... threw TD passes in 11 of 13 games and two TD passes in 10 games ... had a streak of 10 straight games with a TD pass, which ranks second on UT's all-time list ... set UT's freshman single-season mark with 2,570 pass yards and 2,740 total yards ... his 161.8 passer rating ranked eighth nationally ... also rushed for 170 yards and two TDs ... completed passes to 12 different receivers and TD passes to nine different receivers ... tied the UT record by completing 15 consecutive passes (OSU, 4; KSU, 4; TAM, 7)
Stephen McGee - Texas A&M
Last Season:Threw for 2,118 yards and 11 touchdowns on 177-of-287 attempts while starting all 12 regular season games ... only threw two interceptions in 287 attempts and led the nation in interception percentage ... rushed for 635 yards and four touchdowns on 138 carries ... one of only a handful of quarterbacks with more than 2,100 passing yards and 600 rushing yards ... has six 200-plus passing games, including career-best 318 vs. Louisiana Tech ... led the team in rushing vs. Army, Oklahoma State and Texas ... had career highs of 25 completions and 45 attempts vs. Kansas ... career rushing high is 142 vs. Army ... earned honorable mention All-Big 12 honors ... member of the Big 12 Academic Honor Team.
Bret Meyer - Iowa State
Last Season: Junior quarterback Bret Meyer completed 56.4% of his passes for over 2,500 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Cyclones last season averaging 212 yards per game. His biggest game passing was against Northern Iowa when he threw for 323 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 pick. He also had big days against Texas (274 yards), Nebraska (262 yards) and Kansas State (280 yards).
Meyer also used his legs to burn defenses running for 177 yards and 6 touchdowns including a 70 yard three touchdown performance against Toledo.
Bobby Reid - Oklahoma State
Last Season: Completed 55.4% of his passes for 2266 yards, 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His biggest game through the air was against Kansas when he threw for 411 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Reid also ran the ball 119 times for 500 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Blake Szymanski - Baylor
Last Season: Redshirt freshman quarterback Blake Szymanski started the final three games of the 2006 campaign in place of the injured Shawn Bell ... Completed 64-of-121 passes for 689 yards with four touchdowns and seven interceptions ... Also rushed 44 times for 18 yards and two touchdowns on the season ... His 44 rushes ranked No. 2 on the squad ... Against No. 16 Oklahoma in the season-finale, he was 22-of-45 in the air for 188 yards with two interceptions ... His 45 pass attempts vs. the Sooners were a career-high ... At Oklahoma State, he completed 24-of-41 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions ... He established career-highs in every passing category vs. the Cowboys ... Also rushed 10 times for a career-high 40 yards at Oklahoma State ... In his first career start at Texas Tech, he rushed a career-high 22 times for 25 yards and two touchdowns, while completing 16-of-30 passes for 197 yards and one touchdown with one pick ... His two rushing touchdowns against the Red Raiders were the first of his career as he became the first Baylor signal caller to register two rushing touchdowns in a game since Nov. 21, 1992, when J.J. Joe accomplished the feat in a 21-20 Baylor victory over Texas at Floyd Casey Stadium.