Phil Steele, one of the leading preseason publication publishers (put that on a business card), is out with his 2011 All-Big East Team. And guess what? WVU is all up in it.
First-teamers include (obviously) Geno Smith, Tavon Austin, Don Barclay and Bruce Irvin. Those were absolute givens. Somewhat more surprising starters are Joe Madsen and Josh Jenkins on offense and Julian Miller, Najee Goode, Keith Tandy and Terence Garvin (AKA "My Man Terence!") on defense. That makes a total of 10 players on a first-team with only 22 spots (not counting special teams, which we're forfeiting this year).
And while 10 out of 22 is awesome, Mssr. Steele doesn't foresee a lot of depth on this year's Mountaineer squad, as beyond those first 10, we only place a total of three players on the next three teams. Yikes.
Still, that's a strong showing for the Mountaineers and a very strong endorsement of Jeff Casteel's defense. Incidentally, "Casteel's Defense" is the name of my promising thoroughbred horse. I expect it to win the Triple Crown, sire many stakes winners, and eventually make the stickiest of glues.