The Big Ten announced their defensive all-conference teams and individual player award winners earlier tonight. No Gophers received any of the player awards -- no surprise there -- but a few managed to nab a couple of third-team and honorable mention all-conference spots. These tend to favor winning teams (with the exception of Maryland, strangely, and Nebraska), so if the Gophers had won more, I would guess they'd have more representation across the board. But what can you do?
Here are the Gophers that were recognized on the defensive side of the ball:
All-Big Ten Defense and Specials Team (Coaches)
3rd Team - Eric Murray
3rd Team - Ryan Santoso
3rd Team - Peter Mortell
All Big-Ten Defense and Special Teams (Media)
3rd Team - Eric Murray
3rd Team - Briean Boddy-Calhoun
3rd Team - Peter Mortell
Honorable Mention: De'Vondre Campbell, Theiren Cockran, Jack Lynn, Cody Poock, Steven Richardson, and Ryan Santoso
You can check out a complete list of the all-conference teams and individual award winners here.