The vote is in, and Iowa State is not the favorite to win the Big 12 North in a vote by media personnel covering Big 12 sports. The same journalists also voted on their pre-season players and selected Cyclones Todd Blythe and Nick Leaders to the all-conference team.

The journalists felt Colorado was a better choice than the Cyclones to win the North division and chose Texas to claim victory in the South.

The Buffaloes return 18 starters off last year’s Big 12 North co-champions that went 8-5 and won the EV1.net Houston Bowl. Colorado received 25 first place votes out of a possible 50. Iowa State received 14 first place votes and was picked second ahead of Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas State and Kansas.

Texas has 17 starters back from 2004’s 11-1 and Rose Bowl-winning team that finished behind Big 12 champion Oklahoma. The Longhorns tallied 40 first place votes, and the Sooners managed to garner only nine. Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Baylor round out the finishing order for the South.

The Cyclones will have 18 starters from last year playing this season after turning around a 2-10 2003 season by finishing 7-5, sharing a piece of the Big 12 North with Colorado and defeating Miami University in the Independence Bowl.

Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson was named pre-season Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, defensive lineman Rodrique Wright of Texas was selected pre-season Defensive Player of the Year and new Nebraska quarterback Zac Taylor was chosen pre-season Newcomer of the Year.

Peterson was the runner-up in last year’s Heisman trophy balloting as well as the Big 12 Offensive Newcomer and Freshman of the Year. The 6-2, 210-pound sophomore running back was a 2004 All-Big 12 first team member while finishing second in the league in rushing with 148.1 yards per game. His 15 touchdowns for the Sooners ranked third in the conference.

The 6-foot-5-inch, 305-pound Wright was a member of the All-Big 12 second team and The Sporting News All-America second team in 2004. He had 36 tackles for the Longhorns last season, 18 solo and three for loss.

The Huskers found a new quarterback to lead the newly installed West Coast offense in junior college transfer Taylor. The 6-foot-2-inch junior transferred after passing for close to 3,000 yards and 29 touchdowns for Butler County Community College while leading them to the NJCAA championship game last season.

– ISU Media Relations contributed to this article.