40 Acres Sports

Even after a rough sophomore season, Texas quarterback [tag]Colt McCoy[/tag] is getting a little preseason love from the national media. USA Today has McCoy as their number one sleeper QB poised for a possible Heisman Trophy run. Not entirely out of left field, after all McCoy was a legit Heisman contender before his injury in 2006. Anytime Jimmy Clausen makes a list like this you know the guys making it are reaching for some true sleepers.

Read their thoughts on why McCoy has a shot at the Heisman below:

This guy was on everybody’s list after his freshman season in 2006. Now he seems to have fallen out of favor after Texas had a subpar (by their standards) year and McCoy threw 18 interceptions. He also threw for 22 TDs and 3,303 yards. He’s not a Vince Young threat as a runner but he did rush for 492 yards and 4 TDs last year. If the Longhorns are a national contender than this guy is going to get some votes. Playing in the Big 12 will certainly have him in the spotlight.

Maybe my ColtForHeisman.com site will experience a rebirth now. Sweet.

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Soon after the Longhorns took the championship trophy off the field in Oklahoma City the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship All-Tournament Team was announced. Three Texas players were named to the team and first baseman [tag]Brandon Belt[/tag] was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Belt hit .588 with two doubles, one home run and 10 RBI in four games.

Check below for the full team:

All-Tournament Team

1B – [tag]Brandon Belt[/tag], Texas
2B – Jake Opitz, Nebraska
SS – Drew Biery, Kansas State
3B – Nate Tenbrink, Kansas State
C – Luis Flores, Oklahoma State
OF – Jacob Priday, Missouri
OF – [tag]Jordan Danks[/tag], Texas
OF – [tag]Russell Moldenhauer[/tag], Texas
DH – Rebel Ridling, Oklahoma State
P – Daniel Edwards, Kansas State
P – Andrew Doyle, Oklahoma

Most Outstanding Player

1B – Brandon Belt, Texas

Kevin Durant headlines NBA’s all-rookie team, but one moron didn’t put him on their team. Probably a Hawks writer.

Cedric Dockery and Chris Hall named to trophy watch lists. Dockery up for the Outland and Hall for the Rimington.

Kenn Kasparek named national pitcher of the week. Throwing a no hitter doesn’t hurt.

Hedo Turkoglu named NBA’s most improved player, former Longhorn LaMarcus Aldridge is the runner up with 9 first place votes.

I’m not sure what’s wrong with Mark Jackson, Jon Barry, or Jemele Hill were doing this last basketball season, but they certainly weren’t watching games. Those were the only three ESPN “experts” to not vote for Seattle Oklahoma City Sonics guard/forward [tag]Kevin Durant[/tag] as their Rookie of the Year for the 2007-2008 season. Durant picked up 17 out of 20 votes while Al Horford received the other three. Here’s how the votes broke down:

Kevin Durant Marc Stein ESPN.com	Kevin Durant J.A. Adande ESPN.com	Kevin Durant John Hollinger ESPN.com	Kevin Durant Chris Sheridan ESPN.com
Kevin Durant Chris Broussard ESPN Mag	Kevin Durant Henry Abbott TrueHoop	Kevin Durant David Thorpe Scouts Inc.	Kevin Durant Chad Ford ESPN.com
Kevin Durant Jalen Rose ESPN	Al Horford Mark Jackson ABC	Al Horford Jon Barry ESPN	Kevin Durant Tim Legler ESPN
Al Horford Jemele Hill ESPN.com Page 2	Kevin Durant Scoop Jackson ESPN.com Page 2	Kevin Durant Chris Palmer ESPN Mag	Kevin Durant Dr. Jack Ramsay ESPN Radio
Kevin Durant Maurice Brooks ESPN.com	Kevin Durant Chris Ramsay ESPN.com	Kevin Durant Andrew Ayres ESPN.com	Kevin Durant Matt Wong ESPN.com

Kevin managed to live up to the incredible hype and only got better and better as the year went on. Definitely well deserved. He only spent one season at Texas but Kevin is proud to be a Longhorn and we’re proud of him. This is just the first of many honors he’ll pick up in the coming weeks. Congrats Kevin.

DJ Augustin wins Bob Cousy Award given to nation’s top college point guard. He’ll be presented with the award Monday in San Antonio.

Texas sophomore point guard [tag]DJ Augustin[/tag] and head coach [tag]Rick Barnes[/tag] were both honored by Big 12 basketball coaches Monday. Augustin was named first team All Big 12. He was one of two unanimous selections, along with Kansas State’s Michael Beasley who was named conference player of the year. Guard [tag]AJ Abrams[/tag] and forward [tag]Damion James[/tag] were named to the second and third team respectively.

Barnes’ job taking a Kevin Durant-less Longhorns team to a Big 12 title was rewarded with a coach of the year nod. He’s been to a Final Four and coached two national players of the year, but this season was probably his best coaching job. The improvement of every single player on this year’s squad definitely reflects well on Barnes and his entire staff.

See the full list of Big 12 awards after the jump.

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Augustin, Abrams, and James named to AP All-Big 12 team. Augustin was unanimous first-team choice.