Nine Big Ten players have been named to the Capital One Academic All-America teams. That leads all FBS conferences.

Here are the honorees:

First team

• Rex Burkhead, RB, Nebraska
• Pete Massaro, DE, Penn State
• Adam Replogle, DT, Indiana
• John Urschel, OL, Penn State
• Patrick Ward, OL, Northwestern

Burkhead, Ward and Massaro earned first-team honors for the second time, becoming three of just five players nationally to achieve that distinction.

Second team

• Brian Arnfelt, DL, Northwestern
• Max Bullough, LB, Michigan State
• Sean Fisher, LB, Nebraska
• Mike Sadler, P, Michigan State

To be eligible for the academic All-America honors, a player must be in at least his second year of athletic eligibility, be a starter or key performer, and carry a cumulative 3.30 grade point average.

The Big Ten's five first-team selections were more than any other conference. The league has now led all FBS conferences in academic All-Americans for eight straight seasons, with 64 total honorees over that span.

Congrats to these players for this outstanding achievement.