Preseason's Best in the Mountain West? TCU
Here's how the poll broke down, with my official ballot selections in parentheses:
1. TCU 31 1st place votes; 279 points (TCU)
2. Utah 242 (BYU)
3. BYU 207 (Utah)
4. Air Force 195 (Air Force)
5. Wyoming 147 (San Diego State)
6. San Diego State 128 (Wyoming)
7. Colorado State 96 (Colorado State)
8. UNLV 56 (UNLV)
9. New Mexico 45 (New Mexico)
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It's the fourth time in their six seasons in the league that the Frogs have been picked to win the conference title; they were also tabbed in 2006, 2007 and 2009.
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On the all-conference team, TCU led the way with eight selections, including the Offensive (QB Andy Dalton), Defensive (LB Tank Carder) and Special Teams (KR/PR Jeremy Kerley) Players of the Year.
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Dalton, Kerley and BYU OL Matt Reynolds were the only three unanimous selections at their respective positions on the all-league team.
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Here's the all-conference team, with my official ballot selections in parentheses:
QB Andy Dalton, TCU (Dalton)
WR Vincent Brown, SDSU (Brown)
WR Phillip Payne, UNLV (McKay Jacobson, BYU)
RB Eddie Wide, Utah (Wide)
RB Jared Tew, AFA (Matthew Tucker, TCU)
OL Matt Reynolds, BYU (Reynolds)
OL Jake Kirkpatrick, TCU (Kirkpatrick)
OL Marcus Cannon, TCU (Cannon)
OL Caleb Schlauderaff, Utah (Schlauderaff)
OL Zane Taylor, Utah (Braden Hansen, BYU)
TE Alston Umuolo, SDSU (Austin Holt, BYU)
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DL Jonathan Rainey, UNM (Rainey)
DL Wayne Daniels, TCU (Daniels)
DL Cory Grant, TCU (Grant)
LB Brian Hendricks, Wyoming (Sealver Siliga, Utah; I picked a fourth lineman instead of a fourth linebacker--voters had the option)
LB Tank Carder, TCU (Carder)
LB Carmen Messina, UNM (Messina)
LB Mychal Sisson, CSU (Jordan Pendleton, BYU)
DB Reggie Rembert, AFA (Rembert)
DB Anthony Wright, AFA (Wright)
DB Andrew Rich, BYU (Rich)
DB Brandon Burton, Utah (Tejay Johnson, TCU)
DB* Chris Prosinski, Wyoming (extra DB due to tie in voting)
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P Brian Stahovich, SDSU (Stahovich)
PK Ross Evans, TCU (Evans)
Ret Jeremy Kerley, TCU (Kerley)
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Offensive POY: Dalton (Dalton)
Defensive POY: Carder (Carder)
Special Teams POY: Kerley (Kerley)
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BYU having only two players selected to the all-MWC team is interesting, since the Cougars have never had fewer than three all-MWC 1st team selections at the end of the year.
Since the inception of the MWC in 1999, here's how BYU has done at placing players on the all-conference 1st Team, AFTER the season:
1999: 6 players, plus Freshman of the Year
2000: 4 players
2001: 8 players, plus Offensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year
2002: 3 players
2003: 3 players
2004: 4 players, plus Freshman of the Year
2005: 3 players
2006: 5 players, plus Offensive Player of the Year and Coach of the Year
2007: 6 players, plus Freshman of the Year
2008: 5 players
2009: 4 players
Even during BYU's leanest days of the last decade, the Cougars found a way to field at least three 1st Teamers; with the talent level in Provo in 2010, I would expect more than two BYU players to make the grade by the end of the season.
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