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Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Most of college football's 2016 first-team All-Americans are about to begin their rookie seasons in the NFL, but you wouldn't know it from how loaded Bleacher Report's 2017 preseason AA team is.

Baker Mayfield is back in search of a third season as a Heisman finalist. Saquon Barkley will likely join him on that year-end stage. Connor Williams might be the best CFB offensive lineman in at least a decade. And both Ed Oliver and Dexter Lawrence are right up there among defensive linemen. Heck, even punter JK Scott is one of the greatest to ever boot the ball.

The panelists voting for these preseason AAs were Matt Hayes, David Kenyon, Adam Kramer, Kerry Miller, Brad Shepard and Greg Wallace. In the case of ties, editor Ben Chodos cast the deciding vote.

The SEC took the cake with nine representatives among our 28 AAs. The ACC came in second with six players, while the Big 12 took home third place with four names on the list. But we didn't forget about the smaller schools, as Conference USA, the AAC and two independent schools made the cut.

Autumn is coming. Prepare for its arrival with this rundown of what should be the best players in the country.