Rosemont, Ill. – The Big Ten led all conferences with eight student-athletes named to the Capital One Academic All-America first or second teams in football as announced today by CoSIDA. The Big Ten has now led all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences in Academic All-Americans for nine straight seasons, with 72 honorees over that time span.

The Big Ten’s total of eight Academic All-Americans topped all conferences, as no other conference produced more than five honorees. The Big Ten also led all conferences with six first-team selections, while Nebraska led all schools with three honorees. Michigan State was one of just three schools to have two student-athletes earn placement on the first team.

The Academic All-America first-team honorees from the Big Ten are Indiana’s Mark Murphy, Iowa’s James Morris, Michigan State’s Max Bullough and Mike Sadler, Nebraska’s Spencer Long and Penn State’s John Urschel. Urschel was one of two players among this year’s honorees to earn first-team accolades for a second time while both Bullough and Sadler earned second-team accolades last season. The Big Ten’s second-team Academic All-Americans are the Nebraska pair of Jake Long and C.J. Zimmerer.

To be eligible for the award, a player must be in at least his second year of athletic eligibility, be a first-team or key performer and carry a cumulative 3.30 grade point average (GPA).