The Mountaineers may be the new kids on the Big 12 block, but the football team is already getting plenty of respect from the longtimers.
West Virginia University, in its first season in the league after leaving the Big East, was picked No. 2 in the 2012 Big 12 Football Preseason Poll, voted on by media representatives who cover the conference and released Thursday. WVU received 339 points, including seven first-place votes, finishing only behind seven-time conference winner Oklahoma, which received 396 points and 32 first-place votes.
Texas, a three-time champion and the Big 12’s political bully, was the third choice with 291 points. Oklahoma State, which nearly crashed the SEC’s BCS title party last season, was fourth with 267 points, while another first-year participant, TCU, came in fifth with 260 points.
Kansas, under first-year head coach Charlie Weis, was last out of the 10 teams with just 46 votes. The Jayhawks finished behind Kansas State (sixth, 257), Baylor (seventh, 162), Iowa State (eighth, 121) and Texas Tech (ninth, 116).
The Big 12’s head coaches and selected student-athletes will be in Dallas on Monday and Tuesday of next week for the annual Big 12 Football Media Days.
WVU will kick off the 2012 season Sept. 1 in Morgantown, hosting Marshall in the annual Friends of Coal Bowl.
The Mountaineers are still receiving a lot of attention after posting 70 points their last time out against Clemson in the Orange Bowl. The two biggest stars of that game — quarterback Geno Smith, the league’s preseason offensive player of the year, and wide receiver Tavon Austin, a preseason all-conference selection — both return, giving second-year head coach Dana Holgorsen plenty of firepower to use in his vaunted offense.
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West Virginia wide receiver Tavon Austin caught 101 passes for 1,186 yards and eight touchdowns last season, including 12 catches for 123 yards and four TDs in the Mountaineers’ 70-33 Orange Bowl victory over Clemson. WVU was voted No. 2 in the Big 12 Football Preseason Poll released Thursday. Photo courtesy of WVU Sports Communications
Mountaineers getting plenty of respect
WVU voted No. 2 in Big 12 Football Preseason Poll
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