Predicting Every All-Conference Team for 2015 College Football Season

The undisputed MVP of Ohio State's run to a national title didn't even make his all-conference team.

Running back Ezekiel Elliott was only an Honorable Mention choice in the Big Ten this season, before he went on to rush for more than 200 yards in each of the Buckeyes' three postseason games to help them claim the championship. Those performances have Elliott among the early front-runners for the Heisman Trophy in 2015, and he'll no doubt make most preseason all-conference and All-America lists.

Who else will end up being among the best of the best next season? To figure that out, first we'll look at who should be the top players in each of the five power conferences.

Here's our predictions for who will be named to the all-conference teams in the ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac-12 and SEC. Check these out, then give us your thoughts and picks in the comments section.

ACC

Daniel Shirey/Getty Images

Offense

QB: Deshaun Watson, So., Clemson

RB: James Conner, Jr., Pittsburgh

RB: Dalvin Cook, So., Florida State

WR: Tyler Boyd, Jr., Pittsburgh

WR: Artavis Scott, So., Clemson

TE: Cam Serigne, So., Wake Forest

OL: Alex Barr, Sr., North Carolina State

OL: Isaiah Battle, Sr., Clemson

OL: Matt Skura, Sr., Duke

OL: Eric Smith, Jr., Virginia

OL: Landon Turner, Sr., North Carolina

With Jameis Winston moving on to the NFL, the door is wide-open for a new star quarterback in this league. Watson gave us a good idea of what he can do in between injuries in 2014, and if he's able to return to full strength after having knee surgery he has a chance to surpass Clemson great Tajh Boyd.

The ACC has a bountiful helping of young skill-position players that should make for some fun times in 2015, but where the greatest development could happen is on the offensive line. All 15 linemen voted by league coaches to the all-conference team have either exhausted their eligibility or turned pro early.

Defense

DL: Adam Gotsis, Sr., Georgia Tech

DL: Dadi Nicolas, Sr., Virginia Tech

DL: Sheldon Rankins, Sr., Louisville

DL: Connor Wujciak, Jr., Boston College

LB: Brandon Chubb, Sr., Wake Forest

LB: Reggie Northrup, Sr., Florida State

LB: Terrance Smith, Sr., Florida State

DB: Quin Blanding, So., Virginia

DB: Jeremy Cash, Sr., Duke

DB: Kendall Fuller, Jr., Virginia Tech

DB: Jalen Ramsey, Jr., Florida State

The ACC had seven of the top 30 defenses in the country in 2014, in terms of yards allowed, led by No. 1 overall unit Clemson. But many of the most notable individual players from those teams, and the conference as a whole, have moved on.

This league's strength in the fall will be in the secondary, where future NFL stars such as Fuller and Ramsey will make it very dangerous for quarterbacks to go deep.

Special Teams

K: Roberto Aguayo, Jr., Florida State

P: Alexander Kinal, Sr., Wake Forest

RS: Myles Willis, Jr., Boston College

Though he fell short of winning a second consecutive Lou Groza Award, despite making 27 of 30 field goals, Aguayo remains the best kicker in the country. He is perfect on all 149 of his extra-point attempts in his career, and his 92.3 field-goal accuracy is among the best in FBS history.  

Big 12

USA TODAY Sports

Offense

QB: Trevone Boykin, Sr., TCU

RB: Shock Linwood, Jr., Baylor

RB: Samaje Perine, So., Oklahoma

WR: Corey Coleman, Jr., Baylor

WR: Josh Doctson, Sr., TCU

TE: Blake Jarwin, Jr., Oklahoma State

OL: Le'Raven Clark, Sr., Texas Tech

OL: Spencer Drango, Sr., Baylor

OL: Sedrick Flowers, Sr., Texas

OL: Joey Hunt, Sr., TCU

OL: Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Sr., TCU

The Big 12 was dominated by Baylor and TCU last season, and 2015 will be no different, with those schools taking up more than half of our offensive spots. Boykin was a breakout player in 2014, and this fall he figures to be a major Heisman contender.

The player who could make the biggest leap forward is Linwood, who quietly put up more than 1,250 yards with 16 touchdowns in the shadow of Baylor's pass-heavy attack. Bryce Petty has moved on, and the Bears could run the ball more and put him into the spotlight.

Defense

DL: Andrew Billings, Jr., Baylor

DL: James McFarland, Sr., TCU

DL: Shawn Oakman, Sr., Baylor

DL: Emmanuel Ogbah, Jr., Oklahoma State

LB: Taylor Young, So., Baylor

LB: Pete Robertson, Sr., Texas Tech

LB: Eric Striker, Sr., Oklahoma

DB: Dante Barnett, Sr., Kansas State

DB: Kamari Cotton-Moya, So., Iowa State

DB: Karl Joseph, Sr., West Virginia

DB: Zack Sanchez, Jr., Oklahoma

Only two Big 12 teams finished the season in the top 30 in total defense, but expect a much stronger effort from those units this time around. The return of stars like Joseph, Oakman and Striker will make for a stellar year of defensive efforts across the league.

Special Teams

K: Josh Lambert, Jr., West Virginia

P: Taylor Symmank, Sr., Texas Tech

RS: Alex Ross, Jr., Oklahoma

Though he missed nine field goals last season, Lambert also made more (30) than any other kicker in FBS. He also had several game-winners and clutch kicks, something that will continue in 2015.

Big Ten

Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images

Offense

QB: J.T. Barrett, So., Ohio State

RB: Corey Clement, Jr., Wisconsin

RB: Ezekiel Elliott, Jr., Ohio State

WR: Leonte Carroo, Sr., Rutgers

WR: Mike Dudek, So., Illinois

TE: Josiah Price, Sr., Michigan State

OL: Jack Allen, Sr., Michigan State

OL: Mason Cole, So., Michigan

OL: Jack Conklin, Jr., Michigan State

OL: Taylor Decker, Sr., Ohio State

OL: Pat Elflein, Jr., Ohio State

It shouldn't be a surprise that the Big Ten's top offensive players in 2015 will feature a load of players from the defending national champions. Any of the Buckeyes' three quarterbacks would be worthy of our choice, but we're going with Barrett since it seems like it's his job to lose if he comes back at full strength.

Or, if OSU ends up going with Braxton Miller or Cardale Jones, they still figure to be the best passer in the conference.

"It might go all the way to fall camp until you get a full idea of what those guys can do," outgoing offensive coordinator Tom Herman, now head coach at Houston, told George Schroeder of USA Today. "They've all got things they need to improve on. The guy that improves the most and gives them the best chance to win, I'm sure is gonna play."

After having seven 1,000-yard rushers this past season, all that remains are Elliott and Northwestern's Justin Jackson. But look for Clement to follow in Melvin Gordon's footsteps at Wisconsin to be the league's second-best rusher.

Defense

DL: Joey Bosa, Jr., Ohio State

DL: Shilique Calhoun, Sr., Michigan State

DL: Maliek Collins, Jr., Nebraska

DL: Anthony Zettel, Sr., Penn State

LB: Vince Biegel, Jr., Wisconsin

LB: Darron Lee, So., Ohio State

LB: Yannick Ngakoue, Jr., Maryland

DB: Vonn Bell, Jr., Ohio State

DB: Briean Boddy-Calhoun, Sr., Minnesota

DB: William Likely, Jr., Maryland

DB: Frankie Williams, Sr., Purdue

Michigan State scored a huge win when Shilique Calhoun decided to return for his senior year, as he'll help ease the loss of five starters from the Spartans defense. But the team that could have the biggest improvement on that side of the ball is Maryland, which was 12th in the Big Ten in total defense in 2014 but brings back a few really good ones in Ngakoue and Likely.

Special Teams

K: Brad Craddock, Sr., Maryland

P: Peter Mortell, Sr., Minnesota

RS: De'Mornay Pierson-El, So., Nebraska

Last season's surprise Lou Groza winner, Craddock, made 18 of 19 field goals and figures to carry over that accuracy into his senior year. But the most exciting special teams player in the Big Ten will again be Pierson-El, who as a freshman returned three punts for touchdowns to go with his four receiving TDs and one passing score.

Pac-12

Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

Offense

QB: Cody Kessler, Sr., USC

RB: Devontae Booker, Sr., Utah

RB: Royce Freeman, So., Oregon

WR: D.J. Foster, Sr., Arizona State

WR: Nelson Spruce, Sr., Colorado

TE: Pharaoh Brown, Sr., Oregon

OL: Jake Brendel, Sr., UCLA

OL: Nick Kelly, Sr., Arizona State

OL: Toa Lobendahn, So., USC

OL: Kyle Murphy, Sr., Stanford

OL: Max Tuerk, Sr., USC

The Pac-12 loses a lot on offense from 2014, but there were so many great players returning we still had to leave some big names off our 2015 list. California quarterback Jared Goff has thrown for more than 7,400 yards the past two seasons, and UCLA running back Paul Perkins led the conference with 1,575 yards last year.

Kessler comes back for a third year at the helm of USC's offense, and even with his top running back and receiver turning pro early there shouldn't be much drop-off in production.

But the Pac-12's most exciting player in 2015 will be Foster, a pass-catching running back who had 1,769 all-purpose yards last season and now figures to be more of a slot receiver in Arizona State's offense.

"It's a position I feel is more suitable to me," Foster told Kevin Zimmerman of Fox Sports.

Defense

DL: DeForest Buckner, Sr., Oregon

DL: Kenny Clark, Jr., UCLA

DL: Xavier Cooper, Sr., Washington State

DL: Hunter Dimick, Jr., Utah

LB: D.J. Calhoun, So., Arizona State

LB: Myles Jack, Jr., UCLA

LB: Scooby Wright III, Jr., Arizona

DB: Ishmael Adams, Jr., UCLA

DB: Su'a Cravens, Jr., USC

DB: Fabian Moreau, Sr., UCLA

DB: William Parks, Sr., Arizona

Leading the way yet again on the defensive side will be Wright, who won the Bednarik, Lombardi and Nagurski awards this past season while leading the nation with 29 tackles for loss. Big-time front-seven players from USC, Utah and Washington have moved on via graduation or early NFL entry, but the league should still be stacked in 2015.

Special Teams

K: Zane Gonzalez, Jr., Arizona State

P: Tom Hackett, Sr., Utah

RS: Adoree' Jackson, So., USC

Jackson starred all over the field for USC as a receiver, defensive back and kick returner, but it will be his work on special teams that makes him stand out most in 2015. He brought back two kickoffs for scores as a true freshman, averaging just short of 30 yards per return.

SEC

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Offense

QB: Dak Prescott, Sr., Mississippi State

RB: Nick Chubb, So., Georgia

RB: Leonard Fournette, So., LSU

WR: Pharoh Cooper, Jr., South Carolina

WR: Josh Reynolds, Jr., Texas A&M

TE: Steven Scheu, Sr., Vanderbilt

OL: Vadal Alexander, Sr., LSU

OL: Denver Kirkland, Jr., Arkansas

OL: Greg Pyke, Jr., Georgia

OL: Cameron Robinson, So., Alabama

OL: Laremy Tunsil, Jr., Ole Miss

Nick Chubb and Leonard Fournette won't get a chance to face each other in their college careers, unless they meet in the SEC championship or the playoffs. While that's a shame, at least we know we have two more seasons of watching these superstar running backs tear through defenses like they did as true freshmen.

They were two of five freshmen to lead their teams in rushing in the SEC in 2014, a group that should make the upcoming season a great one on the ground to help make up for the dearth of veteran quarterbacks.

"The emergence of so many star running backs runs counter to the biggest trend in college football, the proliferation of the pass-happy spread offenses you see all over the country," wrote Brett Weisband of SaturdayDownSouth.com.

Adding to the likelihood the SEC in 2015 could be what the Big Ten was in 2014 in terms of running back production is the overabundance of stellar offensive linemen, several of whom have a chance to be high draft picks.

Defense

DL: Derek Barnett, So., Tennessee

DL: Myles Garrett, So., Texas A&M

DL: Robert Nkemdiche, Jr., Ole Miss

DL: A'Shawn Robinson, Jr., Alabama

LB: Kentrell Brothers, Sr., Missouri

LB: Antonio Morrison, Sr., Florida

LB: Reggie Ragland, Sr., Alabama

DB: Vernon Hargreaves III, Jr., Florida

DB: Jonathan Jones, Sr., Auburn

DB: Quincy Mauger, Jr., Georgia

DB: Kevin Toliver II, Fr., LSU

This past season was a huge one for defensive linemen in the SEC, and the same is expected in 2015. Even with stars like Shane Ray and Bud Dupree moving on, there's that young group led by freshmen standouts Derek Barnett and Myles Garrett who will continue to terrorize offensive lines, quarterbacks and ball-carriers.

The secondary will be as strong as ever, even with the departures of Landon Collins, Senquez Golson and others. But despite the depth in that area, it's the only place we're projecting a freshmen to sneak onto the all-conference team, as 5-star LSU cornerback commit Kevin Toliver II has a chance to be an impact star right away.

Special Teams

K: Austin MacGinnis, So., Kentucky

P: JK Scott, So., Alabama

RS: Isaiah McKenzie, So., Georgia

There's a major emphasis on underclassmen on special teams in the SEC, highlighted by the country's best punter. JK Scott was an afterthought of Alabama's 2014 recruiting class, a 3-star prospect from Colorado who went on to lead the nation with a 48.0-yard average.

Unless noted otherwise, all recruit rankings are from 247Sports.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.