Big Ten Football Season in Review - WICU12/WSEE Erie, PA News, Sports, Weather and Events

Big Ten Football Season in Review

CHICAGO - With bowl season complete, six Big Ten schools received votes in the final Associated Press (AP) or USA Today coaches polls, while four teams appeared among the top 25. The Big Ten and SEC were the only conferences to feature four or more top-25 teams in the final polls . . .

Northwestern Records First Bowl Win Since 1949: Northwestern set a bowl record with four interceptions on the way to a 34-20 victory over Mississippi State in the TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl, the Wildcats first bowl triumph since the 1949 Rose Bowl Game . . .

Michigan State Claims Second Straight Bowl Triumph: Michigan State won back-to-back bowl games for the first time since the 2001 season as senior kicker Dan Conroy hit a 47-yard field goal with just over a minute left for a 17-16 victory over TCU in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl . . .

O'Brien Named National Coach of Year: Penn State's Bill O'Brien was named the Maxwell Football Club (MFC) Collegiate Coach of the Year, the second straight year a Big Ten coach has been honored . . .                                                                                                                                                                 

Big Ten Players Earn National Honors:  Multiple Big Ten standouts were honored with national awards this season . . .

• Wisconsin's Montee Ball (Doak Walker Award)
• Penn State's Matt McGloin (Burlsworth Trophy)
• Michigan's Patrick Omameh and Nebraska's Rex Burkhead (AFCA Good Works Team)
• Nebraska's Rex Burkhead and Northwestern's Patrick Ward (National Scholar-Athlete Award)
• Penn State senior class (Thomas Brookshier Spirit Award)

Making a Name for Themselves:  Ten Big Ten performers earned All-America honors from various publications . . .

• Michigan's Taylor Lewan
• Nebraska's Spencer Long
• Northwestern's Venric Mark
• Ohio State's Johnathan Hankins
• Ohio State's Bradley Roby
• Ohio State's John Simon
• Penn State's Michael Mauti
• Purdue's Kawann Short
• Wisconsin's Montee Ball
• Wisconsin's Rick Wagner

Students of the Game: The Big Ten led all conferences with nine student-athletes named to the Capital One Academic All-America first or second teams in football as announced by CoSIDA. The Big Ten has now led all Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) conferences in Academic All-Americans for eight straight seasons . . .

• Indiana's Adam Replogle
• Michigan State's Max Bullough
• Michigan State's Mike Sadler
• Nebraska's Rex Burkhead
• Nebraska's Sean Fisher
• Northwestern's Brian Arnfelt
• Northwestern's Patrick Ward
• Penn State's Pete Massaro
• Penn State's John Urschel

NCAA Record Breakers:  Michigan's Denard Robinson (rushing yards by quarterback), Minnesota's Troy Stoudermire (kickoff returns, kickoff return yards) and Wisconsin's Montee Ball (points, total touchdowns, rushing touchdowns) each ended their careers with NCAA records . . .

Picking the House:  The 2012 season featured the second-highest season attendance for all games and conference games only in Big Ten history . . .

Nation's Best Fans: Big Ten schools filled three of the top five spots in the NCAA rankings for average attendance while seven conference programs rated among the top 21 in the country overall . . .

Welcome to the Club:  The Big Ten will welcome a pair of new head coaches to the sidelines for the 2013 campaign in Purdue's Darrell Hazell and Wisconsin's Gary Andersen . . .