DALLAS (AP) — There was nothing strange about Colt McCoy's spot on The Associated Press All-Big 12 team this time around.
No doubt about it, either.
McCoy was the unanimous choice as the top quarterback on the squad released Thursday. While it might seem obvious that the league's offensive player of the year would also be a first-teamer, it wasn't that simple last year, when McCoy also got the award yet was the second-team quarterback behind Oklahoma's Sam Bradford.
But with Bradford hurt and McCoy racking up all sorts of personal and team accolades, the only real question was how many teammates would join him on the all-conference squad.
The answer: Three — his favorite receiver, Jordan Shipley; his top blocker, Adam Ulatoski; and defensive back Earl Thomas, who also joined McCoy as a unanimous selection.
Texas' four first-teamers was tops among all schools in the voting by 20 sports writers who regularly cover the league for newspapers throughout the seven-state region.
Four isn't that many for the single-team lead, especially considering the No. 3 Longhorns went 12-0. Instead, voters spread their respect across the entire conference as all 12 teams had a first-teamer, and nearly all had two selections.
Nebraska, Colorado and Texas A&M; were the only schools with a single pick. The No. 21 Cornhuskers — who will meet the Longhorns in the Big 12 championship game on Saturday night — were represented only by defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh, but he was among the unanimous choices and he was named the league's defensive player of the year. Nebraska also placed six players on the second team, which was the most. Nebraska's seven overall honorees trailed only Texas and Oklahoma, which each had eight.
The Sooners had three first-teamers, as did Baylor and Missouri. The Tigers had two unanimous picks: receiver Danario Alexander and linebacker Sean Weatherspoon. The only other unanimous selection was offensive lineman Russell Okung of Oklahoma State. Texas A&M;'s Von Miller had the unique wrinkle of receiving votes as a lineman, linebacker and a defensive back, as voters weren't quite sure how to classify the Aggies' hybrid "jack" position. On the AP team, he's at linebacker.
Okung, Suh and Weatherspoon were among seven players who made the first team for a second straight year.
The others were Baylor linebacker Joe Pawelek and defensive back Jordan Lake, Oklahoma defensive lineman Jeremy Beal and Kansas defensive back Darrell Stuckey.
The 26-man team was dominated by upperclassmen. The only underclassmen were Ulatoski, Thomas and Missouri kicker Grant Ressel, all sophomores.
