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You may or may not have picked up on what is rapidly developing into my theme for the offseason, the disturbing downward trend of talent patrolling the sidelines in Norman. This was further emphasized Wednesday morning when the Big 12 conference announced their media preseason All-Big 12 team and there were all of two Sooners included. Those players were cornerback Aaron Colvin and center Gabe Ikard, both of whom are very worthy selections.
Tuesday I had posed a question Twitter prior to today's announcement setting Oklahoma's over/under on players expected to be included at 1.5. In hindsight, that number should have been 2.5 as I forgot how obvious a pick Ikard was. However, that's really irrelevant to my point which is look over that list again and tell me how many teams have more selections than the Sooners. Actually, I'll save you the time.
Sooners only had 2 players on Media Preseason All-Big 12 team, less than K-State (5), Texas, Tech, TCU (4 each) and OSU, Baylor (3 each).
— Eric Bailey (@EricBaileyTW) July 17, 2013
I'll help you out with the math there as well. Bailey lists six of the ten teams in the league, which leaves only four teams remaining. Obviously OU is one of those teams meaning there are only three other teams that had two or fewer selections. Those teams, in order of the number of players selected, are: Iowa State (1), West Virginia (0), and Kansas (0).
Yeah...um...not exactly the kind of company Oklahoma would like to be keeping.
If you haven't already quickly scrolled down to the comment section to lecture me on how meaningless something like a preseason All-Big 12 team is trust me, I get it. And you're right. Ultimately, it is meaningless.
Oklahoma could go on to have five, six, seven players on the actual All-Big 12 team once it's announced following the season.
The point is, at least as things stand today, the perception is that Oklahoma's talent level is not where it has been and not where it needs to be. You can place however much or little stock into the opinions' of the media members who compiled this team, but even if you lean towards the latter it's hard to deny that, at least to some extent, our worries were just confirmed.
Here is the full list of the Preseason All-Big 12 Team and award winners:
Offensive Player of the Year: Lache Seastrunk, Baylor, RB
Defensive Player of the Year: Devonte Fields, TCU, DL
Newcomer of the Year: Charles Sims, West Virginia, RB
OFFENSE
WR Josh Stewart, Oklahoma State
TE Jace Amaro, Texas Tech
OL Cyril Richardson, Baylor
OL Cornelius Lucas, Kansas State
C Gabe Ikard, Oklahoma
OL Trey Hopkins, Texas
OL Le'Raven Clark, Texas Tech
WR Eric Ward, Texas Tech
QB Casey Pachall, TCU
RB Lache Seastrunk, Baylor
RB John Hubert, Kansas State
PK Jaden Oberkrom, TCU
KR Tyler Lockett , Kansas State
DEFENSE
DL Devonte Fields, TCU
DL Calvin Barnett, Oklahoma State
DL Jackson Jeffcoat, Texas
DL Kerry Hyder, Texas Tech
LB Bryce Hager, Baylor
LB Jordan Hicks , Texas
LB Shaun Lewis, Oklahoma State
DB Ty Zimmerman, Kansas State
DB Jason Verrett, TCU
DB Aaron Colvin, Oklahoma
DB Quandre Diggs, Texas
P Kirby Van Der Kamp, Iowa State
PR Tramaine Thompson, Kansas State
More from Crimson And Cream Machine:
- Twelve Impact Offensive Players To Watch In The Big 12: KSU Running Back John Hubert
- Realistic Expectations For Oklahoma's Offense
- Head to Head: Damien Williams or Lache Seastrunk?
- Twelve Impact Offensive Players To Watch In The Big 12: OSU Quarterback Clint Chelf
- 2013 Countdown To Kickoff: 46 Days!