Big 12 Preseason Rankings

With just over a month before the college football season gets underway, let's take at look at what each Big 12 conference team returns and where I rank them overall in the Big 12 heading into the 2010 football season.

No. 12 Colorado

Overall Record in 2009: 3-9 (2-5)
How they finished 2009: Finished the 2009 losing their last three games.

Offense:
Returning Starters: Eight
Key Losses: Riar Greer, TE
Key Returners: Rodney Stewart, RB; Scotty McKinght, WR; Markques Simas, WR; and Nate Solder, OT.

Defense:
Returning Starters: Seven
Key Losses: Jeff Smart, LB; Marcus Burton, LB; Benjamin Burney, CB; and Cha’pelle Brown, CB.
Key Returners: Marquez Herrod, DE, Anthony Perkins, S, and Jalil Brown, DB

Toughest Games: @ California, Georgia, Texas Tech, @ Oklahoma, @ Nebraska

No. 11 Baylor

Overall Record in 2009: 4-8 (1-7)
How they finished 2009: After beating Missouri on Nov. 7, 2009, Baylor loses its last three games, all against the Texas Schools.

Offense:
Returning Starters: Six
Key Losses: David Gettis, WR and J.D. Walton, C.
Key Returners: Robert Griffin III, QB; Jay Finley, RB; Kendall Wright, WR; Lanear Sampson, WR; Danny Watkins, OT

Defense:
Returning Starters: Six
Key Losses: Jason Lamb, RB; Joe Pawelek, LB; Jordon Lake, S.
Key Returners: Antonio Johnson, LB; Phil Taylor, DT.

Toughest Games: @ TCU, Texas Tech (Dallas), @ Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma.

No. 10 Kansas

Overall Record in 2009: 5-7 (1-7)
How they finished 2009: After an 8-5 season in 2008, Kansas had the tools to make a run at the Big 12 Championship in 2009, instead they lost their last seven games.

Offense:
Returning Starters: Seven
Key Losses: Todd Reesing, QB; Dezmon Briscoe, WR; Kerry Meier, WR.
Key Returners: Toben Opurum, RB; Brad Thorson, OL; Jeremiah Hatch C.

Defense:
Returning Starters: Seven
Key Losses: Darrell Stuckey, S
Key Returners: Jake Laptod, DE; Drew Dudley, LB

Toughest Games: Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, @ Nebraska, Missouri (KC, MO)

No. 9 Iowa State

Overall Record in 2009: 7-6 (3-5)
How they finished 2009: Beat Minnesota in Insight Bowl for their first Bowl win since beating Miami (OH) in the 2004 Independence Bowl. The Cyclones finished the season by winning two of their last three games.

Offense:
Returning Starters: Eight
Key Losses: Maquis Hamilton, WR; Scott Haughton OT; and Reggie Stephens, C.
Key Returners: Austen Arnaud, QB; Alexander Robinson, RB; and Darius Reynolds, WR.

Defense:
Returning Starters: Four
Key Losses: Christopher Lyle, DE; Jesse Smith, LB; Fred Garrin; LB; and James Smith, S.
Key Returners: David Sims, SS; Leonard Johnson, CB; and Rashawn Parker, DE

Toughest Games: @ Iowa, Texas Tech, Utah, @ Oklahoma, @ Texas, Nebraska

No. 8 Oklahoma State

Overall Record in 2009: 9-4 (6-2)
How they finished 2009: After beating Colorado, OSU lost its last two games, including the Cotton Bowl.

Offense:
Returning Starters: Four
Key Losses: Zac Robinson, QB; Keith Toston, RB; Dez Bryant, WR; Russell Okung, OT.
Key Returners: Kendall Hunter, RB; Huburt Anyiam, WR; Justin Blackmon, WR.

Defense:
Returning Starters: Four
Key Losses: Donald Booker, LB; Patrick Lavine, LB; Andre Sexton, LB; Perrish Cox, DB.
Key Returners: Ugo Chinasa, DE; Orie Lemon, LB.

Toughest Games: Texas A&M, @ Texas Tech, Nebraska, @ Texas, Oklahoma.

No. 7 Kansas State

Overall Record in 2009: 6-6 (4-4)
How they finished 2009: Finished the season losing their last two games after beating Kansas.

Offense:
Returning Starters: Seven
Key Losses: Grant Gregory, QB; Brandon Banks, WR; Nick Stringer, OT.
Key Returners: Daniel Thomas, RB.

Defense:
Returning Starters: Six
Key Losses: Jeffrey Fitzgerald, DL; Daniel Calvin, DL; Joshua Moore, CB.
Key Returners: Emmanuel Lamur, DB; Troy Butler, DB; Tysyn Hartman, DB.

Toughest Games: UCLA, Nebraska, Texas, @Missouri

No. 6 Texas Tech

Overall Record in 2009: 9-4 (5-3)
How they finished 2009: Won last three games including Alamo Bowl versus Michigan State.

Offense:
Returning Starters: Seven
Key Losses: Brandon Carter, OG; Marlon Winn, OT.
Key Returners: Taylor Potts, QB; Baron Batch, RB; Alex Torres, WR; Detron Lewis, WR.

Defense:
Returning Starters: Six
Key Losses: Brandon Sharpe, DE; Jamar Wall, CB; Marlon Williams, LB.
Key Returners: Brian Duncan, LB; Colby Whitlock, DT; LaRon Moore, CB.

Toughest Games: Texas, @ Texas A&M, @ Oklahoma.

No. 5 Texas A&M

Overall Record in 2009: 6-7 (3-5)
How they finished 2009: Lost four of their last five games including the Independence Bowl against Georgia.

Offense:
Returning Starters: Eight
Key Losses: Howard Morrow, WR; Michael Shumard, OT; Kevin Matthews, C.
Key Returners: Jerrod Johnson, QB; Christine Michael, RB; Cyrus Gray, RB; Uzoma Nwachukwu, WR.

Defense:
Returning Starters: Nine
Key Losses: Jordan Pugh, S.
Key Returners: Von Miller, DE; Trent Hunter, CB.

Toughest Games: Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Nebraska, @ Texas.

No. 4 Missouri

Overall Record in 2009: 8-5 (4-4)
How they finished 2009: Won their last three regular season games before losing to Navy in the Texas Bowl.

Offense:
Returning Starters: Nine
Key Losses: Denario Alexander, WR; Kurtis Gregory, OL.
Key Returners: Blaine Gabbert, QB; Derrick Washington, RB; Wes Kemp, WR.

Defense:
Returning Starters: Nine
Key Losses: Sean Weatherspoon, LB.
Key Returners: Aldon Smith, DE; Will Ebner, LB; Kevin Rutland, CB; Carl Gettis, CB.

Toughest Games: Illinois (St. Louis), @Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Kansas (KC, MO).

No. 3 Texas

Overall Record in 2009: 13-1 (8-0)
How they finished 2009: Won Big 12 Championship Game then lost to Alabama in BCS National Championship Game.

Offense:
Returning Starters: Six
Key Losses: Colt McCoy, QB; Jordan Shipley, WR.
Key Returners: Tre Newton, RB; Malcolm Williams, WR; James Kirkendoll, WR.

Defense:
Returning Starters: Seven
Key Losses: Sergio Kindle, LB; Earl Thomas, DB; Lamarr Houston, DT; Roddrick Muckelroy, LB.
Key Returners: Sam Acho, DE; Keenan Robinson, LB; Blake Gideon, DB, Aaron Williams, DB.

Toughest Games: @ Texas Tech, UCLA, Oklahoma (Dallas), @ Nebraska, Texas A&M.

No. 2 Oklahoma

Overall Record in 2009: 8-5 (5-3)
How they finished 2009: Won three of their last four games including beating Stanford in the Sun Bowl.

Offense:
Returning Starters: Nine
Key Losses: Sam Bradford, QB; Jermaine Gresham, TE; Trent Williams, OT.
Key Returners: Landry Jones, QB; DeMarco Murray, RB; Ryan Broyles, WR.

Defense:
Returning Starters: Four
Key Losses: Gerald McCoy, DT; Ryan Reynolds, LB; Dominique Franks, CB.
Key Returners: Jeremy Beal , DE, Travis Lewis, LB; Quiton Carter, DB.

Toughest Games: Florida State, @ Cincinnati, Texas (Dallas), @ Texas A&M, Texas Tech, @ Oklahoma State.

No. 1 Nebraska

Overall Record in 2009: 10-4 (6-2)
How they finished 2009: Big 12 runner-up then beat Arizona in the Holiday Bowl.

Offense:
Returning Starters: Eight
Key Losses: Jacob Hickman, C.
Key Returners: Roy Helu, Jr., RB; Rex Burkhead, RB; Niles Paul, WR; Keith Williams, G.

Defense:
Returning Starters: Eight
Key Losses: Ndamukong Suh DL; Barry Turner, DE; Phillip Dillard, LB; Matt O’Hanlon, S.
Key Returners: Jared Crick, DL; Pierre Allen, DE; Prince Amukamara, CB.

Toughest Games: Texas, Missouri, @ Texas A&M.

Rankings

Rankings:

North:
1. Nebraska
2. Missouri
3. Kansas State
4. Iowa State
5. Kansas
6. Colorado

South:
1. Oklahoma
2. Texas
3. Texas Tech
4. Texas A&M
5. Oklahoma State
6. Baylor

Overall:
1. Nebraska
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas
4. Missouri
5. Texas Tech
6. Texas A&M
7. Kansas State
8. Oklahoma State
9. Iowa State
10. Kansas
11. Baylor
12. Colorado