The 1972 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

players chosen by various organizations for All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

teams for the

1972 Big Ten Conference football season The 1972 Big Ten Conference football season was the 77th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1972 NCAA University Division football season. The 1972 Michigan Wolverines footba ...

. The teams selected by the Big Ten coaches for the

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

(UPI) were led by

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

with seven first-team selections,

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

with five first-team selections, and

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

with four first-team selections.

Offensive selections

Quarterbacks

* Mike Wells, Illinois (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Dennis Franklin Dennis E. Franklin (born August 24, 1953) is a former professional American football player who was drafted by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) in the 1975 NFL Draft. Prior to playing for the NFL he played college footbal ...

, Michigan (AP-2; UPI-2)

Backs

Otis Armstrong Otis D. Armstrong (November 15, 1950 – October 13, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected in the first round with the ninth overall pick in the 1973 NFL ...

, Purdue (AP-1; UPI-1) * Rufus Ferguson, Wisconsin (AP-1; UPI-2) * John King, Minnesota (AP-1; UPI-2) *

Ed Shuttlesworth Ed Shuttlesworth (born June 4, 1952) is a former American football fullback. He played for the University of Michigan from 1971 to 1973. He was the leading rusher for Michigan's 1972 and 1973 teams that compiled a combined record of 20&ndas ...

, Michigan (UPI-1) * Harold Henson, Ohio State (AP-2; UPI-2) * Greg Boykin, Northwestern (AP-2) * Ken Starling, Indiana (AP-2)

Flankers

* Glenn Scolnik, Indiana (AP-1 nd UPI-1)

Split ends

* Jim Lash, Northwestern (UPI-1) * Garvin Roberson, Illinois (AP-2 nd UPI-2)

Tight ends

* Steve Craig, Northwestern (AP-1 nd UPI-1) *

Billy Joe DuPree Billy Joe DuPree (born March 7, 1950) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Michigan State University. Early years DuPree was born and raised in Monro ...

, Michigan State (AP-2 nd UPI-1)

Tackles

* Paul Seymour, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-1) *

John Hicks Sir John Richards Hicks (8 April 1904 – 20 May 1989) was a British economist. He is considered one of the most important and influential economists of the twentieth century. The most familiar of his many contributions in the field of economic ...

, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1) * Bill Geiger, Indiana (AP-2) * John Muller, Iowa (AP-2) *

Jim Coode James Edward Coode (October 22, 1951 – June 17, 1987) was an American football and Canadian football player. He played college football for the University of Michigan from 1970 to 1973 and professional football for the Detroit Wheels (two game ...

, Michigan (UPI-2) * James Nicholson, Michigan State (UPI-2)

Guards

Joe DeLamielleure Joseph Michael DeLamielleure ( ; born March 16, 1951) is an American former professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL). He was an All-American playing college football for the Michigan State Spartans. ...

, Michigan State (AP-1; UPI-1) * Tom Coyle, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-1) * Charles Bonica, Ohio State (AP-2; UPI-1) * Keith Nosbusch, Wisconsin (AP-2; UPI-2)

Centers

Larry McCarren Laurence Anthony McCarren (born November 9, 1951 in Park Forest, Illinois) is a former American football player for 12 seasons in the National Football League with the Green Bay Packers. McCarren had a long career as the Packers' starting center. ...

, Illinois (AP-1; UPI-1) * Bill Hart, Michigan (AP-2) *

Mike Webster Michael Lewis Webster (March 18, 1952September 24, 2002) was an American professional football player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL) from 1974 to 1990 with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs. He is a membe ...

, Wisconsin (UPI-2)

Defensive selections

Linemen

* Steve Baumgartner, Purdue (AP-1 ront four UPI-1 nd *

Dave Butz David Roy Butz (June 23, 1950 – November 4, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Redskins in a 16-year career from 1 ...

, Purdue (AP-1 ront four UPI-1 ackle * Fred Grambau, Michigan (AP-1 ront four UPI-1 ackle * George Hasenohrl, Ohio State (AP-1 ront four UPI-1 ackle * Clint Spearman, Michigan (UPI-1 nd * Gary Van Elst, Michigan State (AP-2 ront four UPI-2 ackle * Larry Allen, Illinois (UPI-2 nd * Jim Anderson, Northwestern (AP-2 ront four * Tab Bennett, Illinois (AP-2 ront four * Brian McConnell, Michigan State (UPI-2 nd

Linebackers

* Greg Bingham, Purdue (AP-1 iddle guard UPI-1) * Gail Clark, Michigan State (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Randy Gradishar Randy Charles Gradishar (born March 3, 1952) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a middle linebacker in the 1970s and 1980s for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). A native of Ohio, ...

, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1) * Dave Lokanc, Wisconsin (AP-1; UPI-2) * Mike Fulk, Indiana (AP-2; UPI-2) * Tom Kee, Michigan (AP-2; UPI-2) * Andre Jackson, Iowa (AP-2)

Defensive backs

Randy Logan Randolph "Randy" Logan (born May 1, 1951) is a former American football player. He played 11 seasons as a free safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1973 to 1983. He was a second-team All-NFL player in 1980, ...

, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Bill Simpson E. J. "Bill" Simpson (March 14, 1940 – December 16, 2019) was an American racecar driver, but is best known as a pioneer in the racing safety business with his company Simpson Performance Products. He left Simpson Performance in a controversy s ...

, Michigan State (AP-1; UPI-1) *

Brad Van Pelt Brad Alan Van Pelt (April 5, 1951 – February 17, 2009) was an American football linebacker who played 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). A two-time All-American (1971, 1972) and the 1972 Maxwell Award winner as college football' ...

, Michigan State (AP-1; UPI-1) * Dave Brown, Michigan (AP-2; UPI-1) * Rick Penney, Iowa (AP-2) * Tim Alderson, Minnesota (UPI-2) * Earl Houthitt, Iowa (UPI-2) * Richard Seifert, Ohio State (UPI-2) * Greg Strunk, Northwestern (AP-2; UPI-2)

Key

AP =

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, selected by the AP's Midwest Football Board UPI =

, selected by the Big Ten Conference coaches Bold = Consensus first-team selection of AP and UPI

References

{{All-Big Ten Conference football teams All-Big Ten Conference All-Big Ten Conference football teams