Four players from Ohio State are among 10 first-team picks from the Big Ten Conference on The Associated Press All-America team released Monday, a group headed by repeat selection Caleb Downs of the Buckeyes and AP Player of the Year Fernando Mendoza of Indiana.
The AP has named an All-America team every year since 1925, and Notre Dame’s two first-team picks this season increased its all-time lead to 87.
Downs, the Big Ten defensive player of the year, has made the first team each of his two seasons at Ohio State after landing on the second team as a freshman at Alabama in 2023. He is one of 12 players on the 27-man first team who did not start their careers at their current school. Downs is joined on the first team by fellow Buckeyes players Jeremiah Smith, Kayden McDonald and Arvell Reese.
Mendoza, who won the Heisman Trophy over the weekend, led the top-ranked Hoosiers to a 13-0 record and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff after transferring from California. He has thrown a nation-leading 33 touchdown passes and is the catalyst of one of the most productive offenses in the country.
A total of 18 schools are represented on the first team, including seven of the 12 in the CFP.