Feb. 17, 2010

Along with being the consensus No. 1 in the national preseason polls, Texas was selected as the preseason favorite in the Big 12 in voting by the league’s head coaches and released by the conference office.

The Longhorns received nine first-place votes for the maximum 81 points. Texas was national runner-up a season ago, posting a record of 50-16-1 and 17-9-1 in the Big 12. Under head coach Augie Garrido, the Longhorns claimed the regular-season and tournament titles in the Big 12 in 2009.

Kansas earned the other first-place vote and had 69 points to finish second in the poll. It was the highest preseason prediction for the Jayhawks since joining the Big 12 for the 1997 season.

Texas A&M placed third with 64 points, while Oklahoma checked in at No. 4 with 57 points. Oklahoma State was fifth with 47 points, followed by Baylor and Kansas State. Missouri and Nebraska tied for eighth, followed by Texas Tech.

All 10 teams begin play this weekend. Nine squads take the field on Friday, with Oklahoma State opening its season on Saturday.

2010 Predicted Order of Finish

(2009 Big 12/overall records, points, first-place votes)

1 Texas (17-9-1, 50-16-1) 81 (9)

2 Kansas (15-12, 39-24) 69 (1)

3 Texas A&M (14-13, 37-24) 64

4 Oklahoma (17-10, 43-20) 57

5 Oklahoma State (9-16, 34-24) 47

6 Baylor (10-16, 30-26) 39

7 Kansas State (14-11-1, 43-18-1) 29

T8 Missouri (16-11, 35-27) 22

T8 Nebraska (8-19, 25-28-1) 22

10 Texas Tech (12-15, 25-32) 20