Time to Compare: How Did My Opinions Differ from Everybody Else
STILLWATER – The Big 12 Conference didn’t space anything out as they flooded the preseason college football talk and list season on Tuesday, July 2 with both the preseason media poll and the preseason media All-Big 12 team. The voting of both and the release are in conjunction with next week’s Big 12 Football Media Days to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada at the home of last season’s Super Bowl and the home of the Las Vegas Raiders Allegiant Stadium.
The media will welcome Arizona State, Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech, and Utah on July 9. The other eight schools, Arizona, Baylor, BYU, UCF, Colorado, Houston, Kansas, and West Virginia will be in front of the media on July 10.
Below are the comparisons of the results of the Big 12 poll and the voting on the preseason All-Big 12 team.
In this season’s poll, I had four teams tied for first, five teams tied for sixth, and three teams tied for 13th. I can’t do anything about it. I pick every game for every team and I have to list my results accordingly. You can see the biggest difference for me and the Big 12 poll is I think West Virginia and UCF are much bigger threats that they do, I also believe Utah is good but I had the Utes losing that last regular season game at UCF and that was what pushed the Knights into the four-way tie at the top and Utah right behind in fifth.
Here is a comparison of my ballot and the Big 12 Media Football Poll.
| Place | Big 12 Media (1st Place Votes) | Robert Allen’s Vote (record total/conf. & tiebreakers) |
| 1. | Utah (20) | Oklahoma State (10-2/7-2 won tiebreaker) |
| 2. | Kansas State (19) | West Virginia (9-3/7-2 second in tiebreaker) |
| 3. | Oklahoma State (14) | Kansas State (10-2/7-2 third in tiebreaker) |
| 4. | Kansas (5) | UCF (9-3/7-2 fourth in tiebreaker) |
| 5. | Arizona (3) | Utah (9-3/6-3) |
| 6. | Iowa State | Kansas (8-4/5-4) |
| 7. | West Virginia | Iowa State (8-4/5-4) |
| 8. | UCF | Texas Tech (8-4/5-4) |
| 9. | Texas Tech | Arizona (7-5/5-4) |
| 10. | TCU | TCU (7-5/5-4) |
| 11. | Colorado | BYU (5-7/4-5) |
| 12. | Baylor | Houston (5-7/3-6) |
| 13. | BYU | Cincinnati (4-8/2-7) |
| 14. | Cincinnati | Colorado (4-8/2-7) |
| 15. | Houston | Baylor (3-9/2-7) |
| 16. | Arizona State | Arizona State (3-9/0-9) |
On the heels of the news that Oklahoma State’s Ollie Gordon II was arrested on charges of DUI under 21, transporting an open container (alcohol) and two traffic violations, the Big 12 selections of the individual awards showe Gordon II a runaway winner for the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. I believe this still happens but Gordon II is going to face some level of punishment heading to the season.
I’m sure Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy will think long and hard about this and Gundy has proven time and again in the past that he knows what to do in situations as he has had a lot of success in the results of his punishment of players.
| 2024 Preseason All-Big 12 Individual Honors | Big 12 Media Poll | Robert Allen’s Vote |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State, RB | Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State, RB |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Travis Hunter, Colorado, DB | Nick Martin, Oklahoma State, LB |
| Newcomer of the Year | K.J. Jefferson, UCF, QB | K.J. Jefferson, UCF, QB |
The Big 12 gets kind of loose with how many players they have at each position and they are not as exacting as I am. For instance, I don’t just vote for five offensive linemen, but instead two tackles, two guards, and a center.
| 2024 Big 12 Preseason All-Big 12 Team - Offense and Specialists |
| Position | Big 12 Media Selection | Robert Allen’s Vote |
| QB | Shedeur Sanders, Colorado | Cameron Rising, Utah |
| RB | Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State | Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State |
| RB | Tahj Brooks, Texas Tech | R.J. Harvey, UCF |
| FB | Steve Klotz, Iowa State | C.J. Donaldson, West Virginia |
| WR | Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona | Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona |
| WR | Kobe Hudson, UCF | Savion Williams, TCU |
| WR | Brennan Presley, Oklahoma State | Brennan Presley, Oklahoma State |
| WR | Jayden Higgins, Iowa State | Jayden Higgins, Iowa State |
| TE | Brant Kuithe, Utah | Benjamin Brahmer, Iowa State |
| OL | Jonah Savaiinaea, Arizona | Jonah Savaiinaea, Arizona |
| OL | Luke Kandra, Cincinnati | Luke Kandra, Cincinnati |
| OL | Joe Michalski, Oklahoma State | Joe Michalski, Oklahoma State |
| OL | Dalton Cooper, Oklahoma State | Michael Mokofisi, Utah |
| OL | Wyatt Milum, West Viriginia | Wyatt Milum, West Viriginia |
| PK | Tyler Loop, Arizona | Tyler Loop, Arizona |
| P | Jack Bouwmeester, Utah | Tyler Perkins, Iowa State |
| KR/PR | Drae McCray, Texas Tech | Drae McCray, Texas Tech |
On defense, I vote for two defensive ends or edge rushers and two defensive tackles. In the secondary I vote for two corners and three safeties.
| 2024 Big 12 Preseason All-Big 12 Team - Defense |
| Position | Big 12 Media Selection | Robert Allen’s Vote |
| DL | Tyler Batty, BYU | Tyler Batty, BYU |
| DL | Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati | Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati |
| DL | Junior Tafuna, Utah | Junior Tafuna, Utah |
| DL | B.J. Green II, Colorado | Sean Martin, West Virginia |
| DL | Lee Hunter, UCF | Lee Hunter, UCF |
| LB | Jacob Manu, Arizona | Jacob Manu, Arizona |
| LB | Nick Martin, Oklahoma State | Nick Martin, Oklahoma State |
| LB | Collin Oliver, Oklahoma State | Collin Oliver, Oklahoma State |
| DB | Travis Hunter, Colorado | Travis Hunter, Colorado |
| DB | Jeremiah Cooper, Iowa State | Jeremish Cooper, Iowa State |
| DB | Tacario Davis, Arizona | Marques Sigle, Kansas State |
| DB | Mello Dotson, Kansas | Trey Rucker, Oklahoma State |
| DB | Cobee Bryant, Kansas | Cobee Bryant, Kansas |
I wasn’t far off. My poll was quite different and I would repeat that Neal Brown and West Virginia are coming off a 9-4 season with most of their starters returning. Brown is a very good coach.
Speaking of coaches, UCF head coach Gus Malzahn is an excellent coach and he returns so much skill talent with the running back Harvey and a couple of wide receivers including Kobe Hudson and the transfer quarterback from Arkansas in K.J. Jefferson is exactly what Malzahn looks for in a quarterback in his offense.
The defense has several outstanding players returning on that side including defensive tackle Lee Hunter and linebacker DeShawn Pace.