The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame named Michigan State's Kirk Cousins and Purdue's Joe Holland two of 16 recipients of the NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards. Cousins and Holland were selected from a nationwide pool of 127 semifinalists from among all NCAA divisions and the NAIA. The two Big Ten student-athletes are now finalists for the 2011 William V. Campbell Trophy, endowed by HealthSouth, which recognizes an individual as the absolute best scholar-athlete in the nation.

The NFF's National Scholar-Athlete program, launched in 1959, is the first initiative in history to award scholar-athletes postgraduate scholarships for their combined athletic, academic and leadership abilities. Each finalist will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship at the 54th NFF Annual Awards Dinner on December 6 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, and one of the 16 will be announced as the 22nd recipient of the William V. Campbell Trophy. Named in honor of Bill Campbell, the chairman of Intuit, former player and head coach at Columbia University, and the 2004 recipient of the NFF's Gold Medal, the award comes with a 25-pound bronze trophy and a $25,000 post-graduate scholarship. A total distribution of $300,000 in scholarships will be awarded that evening.

The Big Ten leads all conferences with six of the 20 quarterfinalists for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, awarded to college football's Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. Big Ten quarterfinalists are Michigan safety Jordan Kovacs, Michigan State defensive tackle Jerel Worthy, Nebraska linebacker Lavonte David, Ohio State defensive tackle John Simon, Purdue linebacker Joe Holland and Wisconsin defensive back Aaron Henry. The Big Ten's six quarterfinalists are more than any other conference, followed by the SEC (4 quarterfinalists), ACC (3), Pac-12 (3) and Big 12 (2). Big Ten standouts have claimed two of the last three Lott Trophies, with Badgers defensive end J.J. Watt being honored last year and Buckeyes' linebacker James Laurinaitis claiming the trophy in 2008.

Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans (Purdue) - Completed 31 of 35 passes for 325 yards and five touchdowns in New Orleans' 62-7 win over Indianapolis.

Plaxico Burress, WR, New York Jets (Michigan State) - Caught four passes, three of which resulted in touchdowns, for 25 yards in the New York Jets' 27-21 win over San Diego.

Dan Connor, LB, Carolina (Penn State) - Made 10 tackles in Carolina's 33-20 win over Washington.

Shonn Greene, RB, New York Jets (Iowa) - Ran for 112 yards on 20 carries in the New York Jets' 27-21 win over San Diego.

Chad Greenway, LB, Minnesota (Iowa) - Recorded 11 tackles in Minnesota's 33-27 loss to Green Bay.

DeAndre Levy, LB, Detroit (Wisconsin) - Posted 11 tackles in Detroit's 23-16 loss to Atlanta.

Michael Jenkins, WR, Minnesota (Ohio State) - Racked up 111 yards and a touchdown on three receptions in Minnesota's 33-27 loss to Green Bay.

Shaun Phillips, LB, San Diego (Purdue) - Recorded six tackles and two sacks in San Diego's 27-21 loss to the New York Jets.

Barrett Ruud, LB, Tennessee (Nebraska) - Had 10 tackles in Tennessee's 41-7 loss to Houston.

Eric Smith, S, New York Jets (Michigan State) - Posted 10 tackles in the New York Jets' 27-21 win over San Diego.

Amari Speivey, S, Detroit (Iowa) - Recorded an interception and added six tackles in Detroit's 23-16 loss to Atlanta.

Cameron Wake, LB, Miami (Penn State) - Recorded two sacks and four total tackles in Miami's 18-15 overtime loss to Denver.

LaMarr Woodley, LB, Pittsburgh (Michigan) - Posted seven tackles and two sacks in Pittsburgh's 32-20 win over Arizona.

Charles Woodson, CB, Green Bay (Michigan) - Grabbed two interceptions and made four tackles in Green Bay's 33-27 win over Minnesota.

Nebraska's Lavonte David was named a semifinalist for the Butkus Award, named for University of Illinois linebacker and Hall of Famer Dick Butkus and given annually to the nation's top linebacker. Michigan State's Greg Jones was named a semifinalist for the Butkus Award last season. Nine players from current Big Ten schools have claimed the Butkus Award - Illinois' Dana Howard (1994) and Kevin Hardy (1995), Michigan's Erick Anderson (1991), Michigan State's Percy Snow (1989), Nebraska's Trev Alberts (1993), Ohio State's Andy Katzenmoyer (1997) and James Laurinaitis (2007) and Penn State's LaVar Arrington (1999) and Paul Posluszny (2005).

Michigan's Denard Robinson, Michigan State's Kirk Cousins and Wisconsin's Russell Wilson were named three of the 16 semifinalists for the 2011 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, given annually to the nation's top quarterback. The Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac-12 were the only conferences with more than one semifinalist selected for the national honor. Robinson and Cousins were also named semifinalists for the Davey O'Brien Award last season. Six signal callers from current Big Ten schools have won the Davey O'Brien Award - Iowa's Chuck Long (1985) and Brad Banks (2002), Nebraska's Eric Crouch (2001), Ohio State's Troy Smith (2006) and Penn State's Todd Blackledge (1982) and Kerry Collins (1994).

Michigan State's Kirk Cousins has been named one of eight "Stars of the Week" by the Manning Award, the only quarterback award that includes the candidates' bowl performances in its balloting. Cousins completed 22 of 31 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns and led the Spartans to a sensational finish in an upset of sixth-ranked Wisconsin, throwing a 44-yard Hail Mary with no time remaining to clinch the 37-31 win.

College football fans can now go to the Allstate Sugar Bowl Facebook page to vote for what they think was the best performance from this past weekend. When voting closes on Thursday at 9 a.m. (Central), the top vote-getter will be announced as the Manning Award Player of the Week.

The Big Ten was one of two conferences with five teams among the top 20 in the second Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings announced Sunday night on ESPN. After handing Wisconsin its first loss of the season, Michigan State moved up five spots to No. 11 in the BCS poll. Other Big Ten programs among the top 20 are No. 14 Nebraska, No. 15 Wisconsin, No. 18 Michigan and No. 19 Penn State. The Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC are the only conferences with more than three top-25 teams in the BCS standings.

Michigan State is ranked in a BCS poll for the third time in the last four seasons. The Spartans ended last season rated ninth in the BCS after reaching a program-high ranking of fifth earlier in the year.

Nebraska makes its 56th appearance in a BCS poll and is ranked for the third straight season. The Cornhuskers were rated as high as seventh last season and have been rated first in the BCS polls in two different seasons.

Wisconsin makes its 58th appearance in a BCS poll and cracks the top 25 for the third straight season and seventh time in the last eight years. The Badgers ended last season rated fifth in the final BCS poll, which tied the highest BCS ranking in school history.

Michigan makes its 64th appearance in a BCS poll and reached a program-high of No. 2 during the 2006 season.

Penn State makes its 43rd appearance in a BCS poll and cracks the top 25 for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. The Nittany Lions reached a program-high of No. 2 in the BCS in 1999.

The Big Ten leads all conferences with five teams appearing among the top 20 in the USA Today coaches and Harris polls and is one of only three conferences with five or more teams among the top 25 in the Associated Press (AP), USA Today and Harris rankings. The Big 12 and SEC are the only other conferences with five or more schools among the top 25. Michigan State makes its first appearance among the top 10 after handing Wisconsin its first loss on Saturday night. The Spartans are ranked No. 9 by the media, No. 10 by the coaches and No. 11 by the Harris voters, their first top-10 appearance since ending the 2010 regular season rated No. 7 in all three polls. Four other Big Ten programs rank among the top 20 in at least one of the votes, including No. 12/11/12 Wisconsin (AP/USA Today/Harris), No. 13/13/13 Nebraska, No. 17/17/16 Michigan and No. 21/19/19 Penn State. In addition, Illinois, Iowa and Ohio State are receiving votes in at least one poll.

The College Football Performance Awards for the eighth week of the season have been announced with three Big Ten players earning recognition. A Big Ten standout earned National Defensive Performer of the Week for the third straight week as Purdue's Kawann Short was honored as the top defensive performer and also as the National Defensive Lineman of the Week. Also on defense, Penn State's Gerald Hodges was named the National Linebacker of the Week. On offense, Iowa's Marvin McNutt was tabbed as the National Wide Receiver of the Week. The purpose of the College Football Performance Awards is to provide the most scientifically rigorous conferments in college football. Recipients are selected exclusively based upon objective scientific rankings of the extent to which individual players increase the overall effectiveness of their teams.

Nine Big Ten football standouts have been named to midseason All-America teams by CBSSports.com, ESPN.com and/or SI.com. Four Big Ten players were named first-team All-Americans by all three outlets, a group that includes Illinois defensive end Whitney Mercilus, Michigan center David Molk, Michigan State defensive tackle Jerel Worthy and Penn State defensive tackle Devon Still. Nebraska kick returner Ameer Abdullah was named a first-team All-American by CBSSports.com and ESPN.com. Four Big Ten student-athletes were honored by one outlet, including Purdue punter Cody Webster (CBSSports.com, first team) and the Wisconsin trio of punt returner Jared Abbrederis (SI.com, second team), quarterback Russell Wilson (ESPN.com, first team), guard Kevin Zeitler (SI.com, first team).