It's that time again. Get excited.

If you missed our postseason top 25 players, here's a look back, but later today we'll begin our list of the top 25 players in the Big 12 entering the 2012 season.

Should your team's talents be on it?

Here's my rubric:

• My postseason list takes into account only the past year. My preseason list factors in the player's entire career. That will cause a few shifts. As such, no juco transfers or freshmen will be on this list. We're not going down that road.

• This is not a list of the top 25 NFL prospects in the league. Pro potential is not a factor.

• How do I approach this list? Imagine I were drafting the best overall talents in the league. Each player's personal role or meaning to his team is irrelevant. This is not a "most valuable" list. It's the Big 12's best players.

• Sometimes stats tell the whole story. Other times, they don't. Player X may have had more tackles or more yards or interceptions than Player Y, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be higher than him on the list.

• This is all about who deserves it. It's not a MLB all-star team. I don't place token players on the list so each team is represented.

Finally, I'll be honest. Putting togehter this list is absolutely awful sometimes. There are plenty of guys who deserved to be on it, but I had to cut. We've only got 25 spots, but no fewer than 35 players deserved to make it. Keep that in mind.

Let the games ... begin.