The Big East released its postseason All-Big East teams and they're as weird as usual. Between the six-person All-Big East basketball teams and All-Big East football teams that have six lineman, it's the "everyone gets a ribbon" of college post-season awards.
Anyway, the Syracuse Orange placed five players on the first team and two players on the second team, so that's nice.
Junior Justin Pugh and senior Andrew Tiller help anchor the first-team offensive line while senior Antwon Bailey is among the three top running backs. Senior Nick Provo is the sole tight end on the first-team, with good reason.
On the defense, Chandler Jones is the lone selection. While I love Chan-Chan and think he did a great job while he was there, it's a little strange for a guy who missed almost half the season to make the first-team. Anyway, not complaining.
On the second team, Sir Alec Lemon rode a school-record season to a place on the list. The junior is in good position to make it a first-team finish next year. Finally, sophomore linebacker Marquis Spruill also made the second squad. His future remains very bright.
You have to image Phillip Thomas would have ended up on the first-team had he kept his nose clean. He was a conference leader in interceptions and team leader in tackles before leaving.
In case you're wondering, the only Syracuse player on the Preseason All-Conference Team was Zach Chibane.
Cincinnati running back Isaiah Pead was named Offensive Player of the Year, Cincy tackle Derek Wolfe and Rutgers linebacker Khaseem Greene were named Co-Defensive Players of the Year, Cincy's Butch Jones won Coach of the Year, Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater won the Newcomer of the Year and West Virginia all-purpose player Tavon Austin was named the Special Teams Player of the Year.
Meanwhile, Big East Coast Bias runs down some of the more egregious issues with the conference team:
Exactly how the voting came to have Tavon Austin as the first team wide receiver and not Stedman Bailey, who led the league in receiving yards despite catching 42 fewer passes than Sanu. With the way he played down the stretch, I think you could have made make the case for Dexter Heyman as a first team linebacker as well.