I always thought of the band Cream as the best power trio in music history. They formed the first supergroup with an all-star cast of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce.

Ah, yes. White Room, anyone?

In the realm of college football, there’s a power trio that’s established themselves as one of the most lethal combinations in the country. They’re not international icons like Cream, but a wealth of national respect has pinned them as a consensus top 15 team in 2009.

Now introducing the Stillwater power trio of Dez Bryant, below left, Kendall Hunter, center, and Zac Robinson.

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AP File Photos

What Big 12 fans can expect from each member of the trio:

Robinson takes the role of Clapton, the frontman of Cream who displayed multiple talents on the guitar and on vocals. Robinson was the orchestrator of a Cowboys offense that ranked sixth in the nation in total offense with 487.69 yards per game last year. Much of that had to do with his multiple talents in throwing the football (3,064 yards, 25 TD’s) and running with it (562 yards, 8 TD’s).

Hunter possesses the role of Ginger Baker, the drummer who kept a steady beat during each performance. Hunter may not have the flair of Robinson or Bryant, but he steadily compiled 1,555 yards and 15 scores on the ground, and was the main reason the Cowboys led the Big 12 in rushing last year.

Bryant rounds out the trio like bassist Jack Bruce, who made a name for himself with an improvisational, free-spirited approach to his work. This is Bryant in a nutshell. Don’t know where to go with the ball? Not to worry. Simply heave the ball in the air to the 6-foot-2 Bryant and let his improvisational skills take over. A decent number of times, he’ll out-jump the defensive back, come down with the ball and make you instantly press the rewind key on your DVR. As a sophomore, he caught 87 passes for 1,480 yards and 19 scores. Bryant also piled up 305 punt return yards and an additional two TD’s on special teams. He’s nationally known as the best receiver in college football heading into 2009.

Bryant sat out most of spring practice to recover from knee surgery, but is expected to be back at full strength in time for the season.

Welcome to the first Big 12 South edition of Conference Chatter’s summer gridiron report. Here’s a schedule of when each Big 12 team was/will be featured:

Big 12 North

• June 1: Missouri
• June 3: Kansas State
• June 5: Iowa State
• June 8: Colorado
• June 10: Nebraska
• June 12: Kansas

Big 12 South

• Today: Oklahoma State
• Wednesday: Baylor
• Friday: Texas A&M
• June 22: Texas Tech
• June 24: Oklahoma
• June 26: Texas

Let’s keep it going with Oklahoma State, which finished last season 9-4 overall (5-3 conference) with a loss in the Holiday Bowl to Oregon.

Biggest question mark: Defensive line.

OSU ranked 107th in the nation in sacks last year with only 15 for the entire season. The Cowboys have some nice players at linebacker and in the secondary, but they must develop a pass rush to contend for the Big 12 South title.

Biggest strength: Wide receiver.

With so much balance on offense, this was a tough call. A case could be made for running back since OSU has led the Big 12 in rushing for the previous three seasons. But with a talent like Bryant, who ranked second in the nation in receiving yards and receiving TD’s last year, just throw it his way and reap the benefits. I truly think Bryant will break the slump of OSU standout receivers (Rashaun Woods, Adarius Bowman) who didn’t make it in the NFL.

Breakthrough player: Senior cornerback Perrish Cox.

Cox had a great spring and is developing into a shutdown corner, in addition to a prominent kickoff returner (29.83 yards per return, third in nation, 2 TD’s last year).

Oklahoma State hired former Kansas University and Miami (Fla.) defensive coordinator Bill Young in January to help bolster a unit that ranked 93rd in total defense (405.54 yards given up per game) last year. Young nodded in agreement when asked by an Oklahoman reporter if Cox could take on a role similar to Aqib Talib at Kansas two seasons ago. If that’s the case, he will be an exciting player to follow this year. Cox should be a future NFL cornerback.

Coaching stability: Very strong, considering the OSU Board of Regents approved a seven-year contract for Mike Gundy last December that will keep him in Stillwater through December 2015. The deal is reportedly worth $15.7 million and will pay him more than $2.2 million per season.

OSU’s schedule

• Sept. 5: vs. Georgia
• Sept 12: vs. Houston
• Sept. 19: vs. Rice
• Sept. 26: vs. Grambling State
• Oct. 10: at Texas A&M
• Oct. 17: vs. Missouri
• Oct. 24: at Baylor
• Oct. 31: vs. Texas
• Nov. 7: at Iowa State
• Nov. 14: vs. Texas Tech
• Nov. 19: vs. Colorado
• Nov. 28: at Oklahoma

Fearless forecast: 3rd in South.

The Cowboys should be a top 15 team for most of the season, but picking them ahead of Oklahoma and Texas is a stretch. Consider that Oklahoma State has never won more than five Big 12 conference games in a season. Furthermore, the Cowboys haven’t beaten Texas in 12 years and they’ve lost six straight Bedlam games to Oklahoma.

As always, discuss.