Cooper on Rimington List

Aug. 21, 2008

NORMAN, Okla. - Oklahoma's Jon Cooper has been named to the preseason watch list for the Rimington Award, which is presented annually to the top center in college football.

Cooper has been a mainstay in the Sooner offensive line since he broke in as a starter in 2005. He has played in 34 games at OU with 29 starts.

A native of Fort Collins, Colo., Cooper is a 6-2, 285-pound senior.

In all, there are 43 players on the watch List. The PAC-10 checks in with the most candidates, with seven players being named. The Big-12 is represented by six players. The SEC and Big East Conference have five players each on the Watch List.

While more than a dozen All-America football teams are selected annually, the Rimington Trophy committee uses four prestigious teams to determine a winner: the American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Foundation, The Sporting News and the Football Writers Association of America

Because the selectors of those four All-America teams can place centers in a "mix" of offensive linemen that includes guards and tackles, their 11-man first teams can often have two centers. The Rimington Award policy is to count all players that play primarily the center position for their respective teams as centers, even though they may be listed as guards or tackles on the All American teams.

The center with the most first team votes is the winner. If there is a tie with first team votes, then the center with most second team votes wins. If there is still a tie, the winner is determined by the Rimington Trophy committee.

The winner will be honored at Rimington Trophy Presentation banquet at the Rococo Theater in Lincoln, Nebraska, on January 17, 2009.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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