2012 All-Big Ten teams: Northwestern and Illinois represented

With the conclusion of the regular season, the 2012 All-Big Ten teams were announced on Monday and the Illinois Fighting Illini and Northwestern Wildcats were represented.

Two players from Northwestern were honored, including kicker Jeff Budzien, who was named to the first team. Wildcat running back Venric Mark, who rushed for 1,310 yards and 11 touchdowns this season, was named to the second team. Wisconsin running back Montee Ball was the first-team running back. Northwestern also had several players named as honorable mentions, including Ibraheim Campbell, Brian Mulroe, Tyler Scott and Patrick Ward.

While no Illinois player was named to the first team, both offensive tackle Hugh Thornton and defensive lineman Michael Buchanan were named to the second team. Taylor Lewan from Michigan and Rick Wagner from Wisconsin were named first-team offensive tackles. Johnathan Hankins and John Simon from Ohio State, Jordan Hill from Penn State and Kawann Short from Purdue were the first-team defensive lineman. Illini junior defensive tackle Akeem Spence was also named an honorable mention.