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Well its mid February which means its high time we started talking some college football. Its never too early to start putting your preseason Top 25 together. Actually it is a bit early for me but it wasn't for Collegefootballnews.com who just put out their first preseason ratings. I'll reveal CFN's Top 25 all next week but I figured we could get a head start this week with CFN's Big 12 ratings and breakdown.

Keep in mind these aren't the official BYB ratings so if you think Nebraska is too high I had nothing to do with it.

2010 Pre-Preseason Rankings: Big 12 Teams
By Staff/CollegeFootballNews.com

1. Texas
2009 Final CFN Ranking: 4
Texas might be considered one of the favorites for the national title if there weren’t a few question marks about QB Garrett Gilbert’s consistency as the full-time starter. Throw in some nasty road games against Nebraska and Texas Tech to go along with dates against Oklahoma, UCLA, and Texas A&M, and the Horns will have to earn what they get. However, the overall schedule isn’t all that awful for a team this good and there’s no reason to not be in Glendale in early January either as the Big 12 champion or as the Big 12 champion playing for the whole ball of wax. The defensive back seven will be a rock and the losses up front, including Sergio Kindle and Lamarr Houston, can be replaced by more NFL-caliber talent. The offensive line needs to be better and there has to be a running game, but this could still be a team that simply outtalents its way to a championship.

2. Nebraska
2009 Final CFN Ranking: 17
If you’re looking for your sleeper, or at least a team that might just outside of everyone’s preseason top five who might end up in Glendale, this could be it. Ten starters are back on offense and there’s good, developed depth to rely on, and while the defense loses Ndamukong Suh and Barry Turner off the line and SS Larry Asante from the secondary, Bo Pelini’s defense isn’t going to take a major step back with Jared Crick and Pierre Allen the stars up front. Schedule-wise, the early date at Washington will be a test, but it’s winnable for a team dreaming of a national title. Road games at Oklahoma State and Texas A&M are dangerous, but Texas and Missouri have to come to Lincoln.

3. Oklahoma
2009 Final CFN Ranking: 35
Reports of the program’s demise might be premature. Boosted by one of the best recruiting classes in the nation, the talent level is still high and now the team is a bit more experienced with eight starters returning on offense led by QB Landry Jones, whose time spent throughout last year was the one positive from the Sam Bradford injury, and RB DeMarco Murray who only seems like he’s been in Norman so long that he once shared a backfield with Billy Sims. The defense loses all-everything DT Gerald McCoy, but it gets back seven starters including LB Travis Lewis and pass rushing star Jeremy Beal. The schedule is interesting with Florida State, at Cincinnati, at Missouri, and at Texas A&M to deal with.

4. Texas Tech
2009 Final CFN Ranking: 42
Will Tommy Tuberville really make sure the offense rolls like it did under Mike Leach? That’s the plan meaning the early question mark will be at quarterback where Taylor Potts and fan-favorite Steven Sheffield will wage a fantastic offseason battle. There are more than enough veterans back on offense to be explosive, while the defense should be solid if a shutdown corner can emerge to replace Jamar Wall and the holes on the defensive front can be filled in right away. Getting Iowa State and Colorado from the North is a nice break, even if those games are on the road, while the Missouri battle is at home. The toughest road game is at Oklahoma, but the second-toughest road trip is at Colorado.

5. Missouri
2009 Final CFN Ranking: 46
After a strange and partially successful season, Missouri needs to come up with a more consistent season with QB Blaine Gabbert and RB Derrick Washington forming a strong backfield working behind a veteran line with four starters returning. WR Danario Alexander is gone, but there are weapons to work with. Sean Weatherspoon is gone, but the rest of the defensive back seven is back. If the Tigers can beat Illinois in the opener, they’ll be 5-0 going into a four game stretch at Texas A&M, Oklahoma, at Nebraska, and at Texas Tech. Missing Texas and Oklahoma State is a positive.

6. Texas A&M
2009 Final CFN Ranking: 69
The Aggies will be entertaining again, if nothing else. The fun-bad team of 2009 will put up a ton of yards and a bazillion points against the average defenses with QB Jerrod Johnson about to break out into national stardom and a tremendous group of playmakers around him. The offensive line needs work, but the attack will still be among the nation’s best. The defense won’t stop anyone again, but it’s experienced and it should be camped out in opposing backfields again with Von Miller leading the way. Expect a lot of 45-40 shootouts.

7. Oklahoma State
2009 Final CFN Ranking: 34
Oklahoma State is in a weird place (no, not Stillwater). This is a good team with a ton of athletes, but 2009 wasn’t the big year expected and now there’s work to do losing Russell Okung and four starters on the offensive line, QB Zac Robinson, and RB Keith Toston. The defense has to replace three starters up front, the entire starting linebacking corps, and three starters in the secondary. That doesn’t mean the team is going to go into the tank, but after starting out 4-0 against Washington State, Troy, Tulsa, and at Louisiana, the Big 12 slate could get rough at times having to face Nebraska from the North to go along with road trips to Kansas and Kansas State.

8. Iowa State
2009 Final CFN Ranking: 67
This isn’t going to be a Big 12 title contender, but it should be a good enough team to ruin the hopes of some of the main contenders. QB Austen Arnaud and RB Alexander Robinson lead an experienced offense with eight starters returning, but the defense has to come up with some key replacements losing LB Jesse Smith and six starters. There’s little room for mistakes against the average teams needing to likely beat Northern Illinois and Northern Iowa to have a shot at a bowl game. Iowa and Utah are also on the slate, while the Big 12 slate couldn’t be worse with road trips against Oklahoma and Texas from the South.

9. Kansas
2009 Final CFN Ranking: 74
Turner Gill has an interesting team and an interesting schedule facing Georgia Tech and a trip to Southern Miss to go along with North Dakota State and New Mexico State. Baylor might be better, but the road trip to Waco isn’t a bad game against the South and missing Texas and Oklahoma is as big a break as KU could get. Nebraska is the only truly tough pure road game (the Missouri game is played in Kansas City). Can Kale Pick replace Todd Reesing? The passing game is going to take a hit, but all five starters from a young line are back meaning the ground game should be the focus early on. The defense will be fine, but nothing special.

10. Kansas State
2009 Final CFN Ranking: 72
The program learned its lesson and only scheduled one non-conference game against an FCS team instead of two (which ended up costing the Cats a bowl game) facing Missouri State after starting out against UCLA. Overall, the schedule isn’t bad with all the tough games at home except for the mid-November trip to Missouri. An influx of JUCO transfers should bring in more depth and more options, but some of the key playmakers like WR Brandon Banks and DE Jeffrey Fitzgerald have to be replaced. The secondary should be a strength and the special teams should be fine, but the team needs Carson Coffman to shine at quarterback or the season won’t go anywhere.

11. Baylor
2009 Final CFN Ranking: 85
As long as Robert Griffin’s knee is fine, Baylor has a shot to finally get to a bowl game again. Three starters return up front after breaking in a relatively young group last year, and some receivers have to be replaced, but RB Jay Finley returns and the O takes on a whole other level if Griffin is Griffin again. The defense will never be a rock, and losing LB Joe Pawelek and safety Jordan Lake isn’t good, but there are just enough returning players to not be awful. Playing at TCU isn’t going to be a positive, but getting Sam Houston State, Buffalo, and at Rice should help the record.

12. Colorado
2009 Final CFN Ranking: 100
The Dan Hawkins Firing Watch can be delayed with wins over rival Colorado State and an upset at Cal in the first two games, but with Georgia and at Missouri to also deal with before mid-October, a 2-3 start might be the best the team can hope for. Tyler Hansen will absolutely, positively be the starting quarterback … maybe, but ten starters are back on offense and there should finally be a little bit of consistency. The defense that suffered through major growing pains with a young front line should be better with all four starters back, while two starters return in the secondary.