| OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR | DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR |
| Sam Bradford, Oklahoma, So., QB | Brian Orakpo, Texas, Sr., DL, |
| SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR | COACHES OF THE YEAR |
| Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State, So., PR/KR | Bob Stoops, Oklahoma, 10th season |
| Mike Leach, Texas Tech, 9th season | |
| OFFENSIVE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR | DEFENSIVE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR |
| Robert Griffin, Baylor, Fr., QB | Travis Lewis, Oklahoma, Fr., LB, |
| OFFENSIVE NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR | DEFENSIVE NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR |
| Brandon Banks, Kansas State, Jr., WR | McKinner Dixon, Texas Tech, Jr., DE |
| OFFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE YEAR | DEFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE YEAR |
| Jon Cooper, Oklahoma, Sr. | Brian Orakpo, Texas, Sr., DL |
Click after the jump to see the first, second and honorable mention teams along with some commentary...in my opinion, Josh Smith got screwed.
| 2008 ALL-BIG 12 FOOTBALL FIRST TEAM OFFENSE | ||||
| Pos. | Player | School | Class | Hometown/Previous School(s) |
| QB | Sam Bradford | Oklahoma | So. | Oklahoma City, Okla./Putnam City North |
| RB | DeMarco Murray | Oklahoma | So. | Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman |
| RB | Kendall Hunter | Oklahoma State | So. | Tyler, Texas/John Tyler |
| FB | Matt Clapp | Oklahoma | Jr. | Phoenix, Ariz./Paradise Valley |
| WR | Jeremy Maclin [r1] | Missouri | So. | Kirkwood, Mo./Kirkwood |
| WR | Dez Bryant | Oklahoma State | So. | Lufkin, Texas/Lufkin |
| WR | Michael Crabtree** [r1] | Texas Tech | So. | Dallas, Texas/Carter |
| TE | Jermaine Gresham | Oklahoma | Jr. | Ardmore, Okla./Ardmore |
| OL | Jason Smith | Baylor | Sr. | Dallas, Texas/W.T. White |
| OL | Phil Loadholt | Oklahoma | Sr. | Fountain, Colo./Garden City CC |
| OL | Duke Robinson [r1] | Oklahoma | Sr. | Atlanta, Ga./Washington |
| OL | Trent Williams | Oklahoma | Jr. | Longview, Texas/Longview |
| OL | Russell Okung | Oklahoma State | Jr. | Fort Bend, Texas/Bush |
| OL | Adam Ulatoski | Texas | Jr. | Southlake, Texas/Carroll |
| PK | Jeff Wolfert | Missouri | Sr. | Overland Park, Kan./Blue Valley West |
| KR/PR | Dez Bryant | Oklahoma State | So. | Lufkin, Texas/Lufkin |
| 2008 ALL-BIG 12 FOOTBALL FIRST TEAM DEFENSE | ||||
| Pos. | Player | School | Class | Hometown/Previous School(s) |
| DL | Ziggy Hood | Missouri | Sr. | Amarillo, Texas/Palo Duro |
| DL | Gerald McCoy | Oklahoma | So. | Oklahoma City, Okla./Southeast |
| DL | Roy Miller | Texas | Sr. | Killeen, Texas/Shoemaker |
| DL | Brian Orakpo | Texas | Sr. | Houston, Texas/Lamar |
| DL | Brandon Williams | Texas Tech | Jr. | Fort Worth, Texas/South Hills |
| LB | Joe Pawelek | Baylor | Jr. | San Antonio, Texas/Smithson Valley |
| LB | Sean Weatherspoon | Missouri | Jr. | Jasper, Texas/Jasper |
| LB | Sergio Kindle | Texas | Jr. | Dallas, Texas/Woodrow Wilson |
| DB | Jordan Lake | Baylor | Jr. | Houston, Texas/Memorial |
| DB | Darrell Stuckey | Kansas | Jr. | Kansas City, Kan./Washington |
| DB | William Moore** | Missouri | Sr. | Hayti, Mo./Hayti |
| DB | Nic Harris [r1] | Oklahoma | Sr. | Alexandria, La./Alexandria |
| DB | Darcel McBath | Texas Tech | Sr. | Gainesville, Texas/Gainesville |
| P | Justin Brantly | Texas A&M | Sr. | Sealy, Texas/Sealy |
| A tie in voting created an additional offensive line spot on the first- and second-teams. | ||||
| [r1] - Repeat first team selection from last season | ||||
| **Unanimous Selection | ||||
| 2008 ALL-BIG 12 FOOTBALL SECOND TEAM OFFENSE | ||||
| Pos. | Player | School | Class | Hometown/Previous School(s) |
| QB | Colt McCoy | Texas | Jr. | Tuscola, Texas/Jim Ned |
| RB | Derrick Washington | Missouri | So. | Peculiar, Mo./Raymore-Peculiar |
| RB | Shannon Woods | Texas Tech | Sr. | McKinney, Texas/North |
| FB | Jorvorskie Lane | Texas A&M | Sr. | Lufkin, Texas/Lufkin |
| WR | Dezmon Briscoe | Kansas | So. | Dallas, Texas/Cedar Hill |
| WR | Juaquin Iglesias | Oklahoma | Sr. | Killeen, Texas/Killeen |
| WR | Jordan Shipley | Texas | Sr. | Burnet, Texas/Burnet |
| TE | Chase Coffman | Missouri | Sr. | Peculiar, Mo./Raymore-Peculiar |
| OL | Kurtis Gregory | Missouri | Jr. | Blackburn, Mo./Santa Fe |
| OL | Matt Slauson | Nebraska | Sr. | Colorado Springs, Colo./Air Force Prep |
| OL | Jon Cooper | Oklahoma | Sr. | Fort Collins, Colo./Fort Collins |
| OL | Chris Hall | Texas | Jr. | Irving, Texas/Irving |
| OL | Louis Vasquez | Texas Tech | Sr. | Corsicana, Texas/Corsicana |
| OL | Rylan Reed | Texas Tech | Sr. | Dallas, Texas/Crossett (Ark.) |
| PK | Hunter Lawrence | Texas | Jr. | Boerne, Texas/Boerne |
| KR/PR | Jordan Shipley | Texas | Jr. | Burnet, Texas/Burnet |
| 2008 ALL-BIG 12 FOOTBALL SECOND TEAM DEFENSE | ||||
| Pos. | Player | School | Class | Hometown/Previous School(s) |
| DL | George Hypolite | Colorado | Sr. | Los Angeles, Calif./Loyola |
| DL | Ian Campbell | Kansas State | Sr. | Cimarron, Kan./Cimarron |
| DL | Stryker Sulak [r2] | Missouri | Sr. | Rockdale, Texas/Rockdale |
| DL | Ndamukong Suh | Nebraska | Jr. | Portland, Ore./Grant |
| DL | Jeremy Beal | Oklahoma | So. | Carrollton, Texas/Creekview |
| LB | James Holt | Kansas | Sr. | Altus, Okla./Altus |
| LB | Travis Lewis | Oklahoma | Fr. | San Antonio, Texas/Robert E. Lee |
| LB | Andre Sexton | Oklahoma State | Jr. | Houston, Texas/Cypress Falls |
| DB | Dominique Franks | Oklahoma | So. | Tulsa, Okla./Union |
| DB | Lendy Holmes | Oklahoma | Sr. | Dallas, Texas/South Oak Cliff |
| DB | Jacob Lacey | Oklahoma State | Sr. | Garland, Texas/Naaman Forest |
| DB | Ryan Palmer | Texas | Sr. | Arlington, Texas/Bowie |
| DB | Daniel Charbonnet | Texas Tech | Sr. | The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands |
| P | Matt Fodge | Oklahoma State | Sr. | Garland, Texas/Garland |
| [r2] - Repeat second team selection from last season | ||||
| 2008 ALL-BIG 12 HONORABLE MENTION | |
| Baylor: | Derek Epperson, P; Dan Gay, OL |
| Colorado: | Cha'pelle Brown, DB; Brad Jones, LB; Daniel Sanders, OL |
| Iowa State: | Mike Brandtner, P; Leonard Johnson, DB/KR/PR; Rashawn Parker, DL; James Smith, DB; Jesse Smith, LB; Reggie Stephens, OL; Kurtis Taylor, DL |
| Kansas: | Caleb Blakesley, DL; Ryan Cantrell, OL; Jake Laptad, DL; Adrian Mayes, OL; Kerry Meier, WR; Mike Rivera, LB; Jake Sharp, RB |
| Kansas State: | Brandon Banks, KR/PR/WR; Jordan Bedore, OL; Eric Childs, DL; Brandon Harold, DL; Joshua Moore, DB; Brooks Rossman, PK; Nick Stringer, OL |
| Missouri: | Tim Barnes, OL; Jaron Baston, DL; Castine Bridges, DB; Colin Brown, OL; Brock Christopher, LB; Chase Daniel, QB; Justin Garrett, DB; Jeremy Maclin, KR/PR; Tommy Saunders, WR |
| Nebraska: | Larry Asante, DB; Roy Helu Jr., RB; Alex Henery, PK; Jacob Hickman, OL; Zach Potter, DL; Ty Steinkuhler, DL; Nate Swift, KR/PR/WR |
| Oklahoma: | Chris Brown, RB; Keenan Clayton, LB; Brandon Walker, OL |
| Oklahoma State: | Jeray Chatham, DL; Perrish Cox, KR/PR; Orie Lemon, LB; Ricky Price, DB; Tonga Tea, DL |
| Texas: | Quan Cosby, KR/PR/WR; Cedric Dockery, OL; Blake Gideon, DB; Aaron Lewis, DL; Henry Melton, DL; Roddrick Muckelroy, LB; Chris Ogbonnaya, RB; Charlie Tanner, OL; Earl Thomas, DB |
| Texas A&M: | Jeff Fuller, WR; Trent Hunter, DB |
| Texas Tech: | Baron Batch, RB; Brandon Carter, OL; McKinner Dixon, DL; Brian Duncan, LB; Stephen Hamby, OL; Graham Harrell, QB; Jamar Wall, DB; Colby Whitlock, DL; Marlon Williams, LB; Marlon Winn, OL |
- Some early commentary regarding these selections. The biggest disappointment to me is the fact that Cha'pelle Brown wasn't a first team selection. He had a great year on the #1 pass defense in the Big 12.
- The Buffs only had 4 players selected to any team, tied for last with Iowa State. Yes, Texas A&M, Baylor and Kansas State placed more players than the Buffs. Motivation boys, motivation! Do they deserve huge numbers? No but for a defense that was pretty consistent all year, not to have more on that side of the ball in such a bad defensive conference is crazy. Call me a homer.
- LB's Shaun Mohler and Jeff Smart were 5th and 4th in the conference respectively in tackles? Not to pick on a player or team by Iowa State's Jessie Smith was eighteen in the Big 12 in tackles, had the same amount of tackles for loss as Shaun Mohler and had one less sack...he got honorable mention? Orie Lemon from Oklahoma State, same thing?
- Josh Smith led the conference in punt return and kick return yardage by a pretty big amount with 1,568 yards. Not honorable mention. First team PR/KR Dez Bryant had 405 yards return yards. thats almost four times less than Smith. Bryant also made first team offense so its not like it was a charity give for his all around work. Josh Smith was the only player to rank in the top 5 of both kick off returns and punt return average this year. Other players who got awarded instead of Smith were Leonard Johnson from Iowa State, Jeremy Maclin, Jordan Shipley from Texas, Perris Cox from OSU, Nate Swift from Nebraska and Quan Cosby from Texas. Josh Smith ranked ahead of all these players in all purpose yards except for Maclin who was already named a first team receiver? Smith got the shaft in a big way.
- Rodney Stewart was on pace for a second team selection until he got hurt. His yards/game is still 7th in the conference.
- How can Oklahoma center Jon Cooper be selected as the "Lineman of the Year" in the Big 12 but not make the first team unit. Cooper made the second team?
- How can anyone in their right mind select Javorskie Lane to any team, let alone second team fullback? I guess being overweight to a point of confusion gets you enough publicity to trick people into thinking you are good?
Here is the release from the Big 12 site:
Sam Bradford is the third Oklahoma player to be named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year. Former Sooners Jason White (2003 and 2004) and Josh Heupel (2000) previously won the award. OU is now tied with Texas for the most Offensive Player of the Year winners in conference history with four. Brian Orakpo of Texas is the third Longhorn to receive Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year honors. He was also named the Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2005. Orakpo is the fourth player in Big 12 history to receive both the defensive freshman and player of the year awards (Mark Simoneau, Kansas State - 1996, 2000; Derrick Johnson, Texas - 2000, 2004; Jordan Dizon, Colorado - 2004, 2007). Bob Stoops was tabbed Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career (2000, 2003, 2006), while Mike Leach was honored for the first time. No other coach has matched Stoops' four coaching awards in 13 years of Big 12 conference play. Robert Griffin was named Offensive Freshman of the Year, marking Baylor's second individual award winner. Griffin joins Daniel Sepulveda, who was named Special Teams Player of the Year in 2006. Dez Bryant of Oklahoma State, the Special Teams Player of the Year, gives the Cowboys their third individual Big 12 award in program history. Previously, Adarius Bowman was honored as Offensive Newcomer of the Year in 2006, and Bob Simmons earned Coach of the Year accolades in 1997. Kansas State's Brandon Banks gave the Wildcats their second straight Offensive Newcomer of the Year award winner and league-leading third overall. Deon Murphy was honored in 2007, joining KSU's first honoree, Michael Bishop (1997). Oklahoma has won the most major awards in the 13-year history of the Big 12 with 23. Texas is next with 20 winners, followed by Kansas State (14), Nebraska (9), Texas Tech (7), Colorado (6), Iowa State (6), Kansas (6) and Missouri (5).