We unveiled our All-Big Ten team earlier today, but there are many others who deserve recognition. That's why we have a second-team all-conference squad. A handful of these players easily could have easily appeared on the first team, as several of the decisions were extremely close.

Here's the second-team squad:

Offense

QB: Taylor Martinez, Nebraska

RB: Venric Mark, Northwestern

RB: Carlos Hyde, Ohio State

WR: Jared Abbrederis, Wisconsin

WR: Cody Latimer, Indiana

TE: Dion Sims, Michigan State

C: Travis Frederick, Wisconsin

G: John Urschel, Penn State

G: Andrew Norwell, Ohio State

T: Rick Wagner, Wisconsin

T: Jeremiah Sirles, Nebraska

Defense

DL: Kawann Short, Purdue

DL: Eric Martin, Nebraska

DL: D.L. Wilhite, Minnesota

DL: Adam Replogle, Indiana

LB: Max Bullough, Michigan State

LB: Mike Taylor, Wisconsin

LB: Gerald Hodges, Penn State

DB: Josh Johnson, Purdue

DB: Michael Carter, Minnesota

DB: Ibraheim Campbell, Northwestern

DB: Micah Hyde, Iowa

Special teams

K: Brendan Gibbons, Michigan

P: Cody Webster, Purdue

All-purpose: Ameer Abdullah, Nebraska

Unlike the first team, we used a traditional 4-3 defense. We had three very good linebackers in Bullough, Hodges and Taylor who could have made the first team, and there's a clear drop-off after that point. ... Nebraska's Martinez struggled in the Big Ten title game, and we had a tough decision between him and Penn State's Matt McGloin, but Martinez's overall production gave him the edge. ... Northwestern's Mark made the first team as an all-purpose player, but he was our obvious first choice for second-team running back, too. It came down to Hyde and Abdullah for the other spot, but Hyde had better per-game production than Abdullah. The good news is Abdullah, who did a terrific job filling in for Rex Burkhead, still makes the team as an all-purpose player ... There were some tough choices at defensive back, and players like Michigan State safety Isaiah Lewis and Michigan safety Jordan Kovacs nearly made the list. Michigan State had the ultimate team defense this season, a great unit not loaded with superstars. ... Nebraska's Brett Maher received more recognition on the official All-Big Ten teams, but liked Gibbons' steadiness throughout the season and his ability to make big kicks against both Michigan State and Northwestern.