The 1981 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Big Ten Conference teams for the 1981 college football season. Two players were unanimous first-team selections by the Associated Press (AP) media panel: Butch Woolfolk of Michigan Michigan and Tim Krumrie of Wisconsin. Three players missed being unanimous AP selections by one vote Anthony Carter of Michigan and Reggie Roby and Andre Tippett of Iowa.
Tony Eason, Illinois (AP-1; UPI-2)
Art Schlichter, Ohio State (AP-2; UPI-1)
Butch Woolfolk, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-1)
Tim Spencer, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-2)
Dave Mohapp, Wisconsin (AP-2; UPI-1)
Stan Edwards, Michigan (AP-2; UPI-2)
Steve Bryant, Purdue (AP-1; UPI-1)
Anthony Carter, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-1)
Oliver Williams, Illinois (AP-2)
Chester Cooper, Minnesota (AP-2)
Dwayne Gunn, Indiana (UPI-2)
Gary Williams, Ohio State (UPI-2)
Bob Stephenson, Indiana (AP-1; UPI-1)
John E. Frank, Ohio State (AP-2)
Norm Betts, Michigan (UPI-2)
Tom Piette, Michigan State (AP-2; UPI-1)
Greg Boeke, Illinois (AP-1)
Ron Versnik, Wisconsin (UPI-2)
Kurt Becker, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-1)
Joe Lukens, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-2)
Ron Hallstrom, Iowa (AP-2; UPI-1)
Mike Carrington, Illinois (AP-2)
Bill Humphries, Minnesota (UPI-2)
Ed Muransky, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-1)
Bubba Paris, Michigan (AP-1; UPI-2)
Ken Dallafior, Minnesota (AP-2; UPI-1)
Bob Winckler, Wisconsin (AP-2)
Tom Jelesky, Purdue (UPI-2)
Tim Krumrie, Wisconsin (AP-1; UPI-1)
Andre Tippett, Iowa (AP-1; UPI-1)
Pat Dean, Iowa (AP-1; UPI-1)
Mark Bortz, Iowa (AP-1; UPI-2)
Jerome Foster, Iowa (UPI-1)
Karl Mecklenburg, Minnesota (AP-2; UPI-2)
Mark Butkus, Illinois (AP-2)
Jerome Foster, Ohio State (AP-2)
Mark Shumate, Wisconsin (AP-2)
Robert Thompson, Michigan (UPI-2)
Fred Orgas, Minnesota (UPI-2)
Mel Cole, Iowa (AP-1; UPI-1)
Jim Fahnhorst, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1)
Marcus Marek, Ohio State (AP-1; UPI-1)
Carl Banks, Michigan State (AP-2; UPI-1)
Brock Spack, Purdue (AP-1)
Dave Levenick, Wisconsin (AP-2; UPI-2)
Jack Squirek, Illinois (AP-2; UPI-2)
Paul Girgash, Michigan (AP-2)
Glenn Cobb, Ohio State (UPI-2)
Todd Simonsen, Iowa (UPI-2)
David Greenwood, Wisconsin (AP-1; UPI-1)
Matt Vanden Boom, Wisconsin (AP-1; UPI-1)
James Burroughs, Michigan State (AP-2; UPI-1)
Lou King, Iowa (AP-1)
Keith Bostic, Michigan (AP-2; UPI-2)
Tony Jackson, Michigan (AP-2; UPI-2)
Brian Carpenter, Michigan (UPI-2)
Morten Andersen, Michigan State (AP-1; UPI-1)
Bob Atha, Ohio State (AP-2; UPI-2)
Reggie Roby, Iowa (AP-1; UPI-1)
Don Bracken, Michigan (AP-2; UPI-2)
Bold = Selected as a first-team player by both the media (AP) and coaches (UPI)
AP = Associated Press, selected by the AP's media panel
UPI = United Press International, selected by the Big Ten Conference coaches
