Good catch, Frak...and my sincere apologies. I failed to notice Osemele as a 3rd team All Big 12 selection. With that, Steele appears to disagree with me and would assess Iowa State as having a slight edge on the offensive line. I can live with that!
With regards to Niles Paul, there is no question this guy has immense talent, in spite of his occasional on-field "brain farts." I'm not sure why you would question that he could possibly be a first-team All Big 12 selection this year after being a 2nd team selection a year ago in a number of major conference publications including the Dallas Morning News. And that is in spite of the fact that his quarterback was arguably the worst in the conference.
With regards to how Nebraska and Iowa State have historically stacked up with regards to talent, I don't disagree with your assertion in the least. Iowa State typically has less talent than does Nebraska. But talent doesn't always win football games (it will most of the time, but not always). As I have said on numerous occasions, the reason Iowa State beat Nebraska a year ago in Lincoln was that they were more motivated, they played with more heart, and they plain and simple wanted it more. I couldn't care less about all of those turnovers. Most turnovers are created and Iowa State created turnovers. And that's why I have said that it is possible that Iowa State could win again this year. Personally, I don't think they will, but they certainly can.
I'm just not that sold on Paul. Some of that is that he drops some balls and makes some mistakes here and there, some of it is that his QB situation is questionable at best. But besides that, I believe that there will be someone who steps up from a major passing team like Mizzou, UT, TT that will pile up the yards at WR. For last year, I guess I don't know how the Dallas paper came to that conclusion. Paul was not in the top 10 in the conference in receptions per game or receiving yards per game. He wasn't in the top 10 in TDs scored. He was 2nd in punt return avg. and 9th in all-purpose yards, so if he was second team PR, then I could see it. Just looking at last year's players, Alexander and Shipley were deserving of 1st team, Briscoe and Broyles second team, Meier and Scotty McKnight third team.
I actually don't think many here disagree with your assessment of this fall's game. Most are not penciling in an ISU win. But there's a big difference between WILL they win and CAN they win. ISU can win that game and they wouldn't need 8 turnovers to do it. We'll see what the injury situation looks like that late in the year.