The2017 All-America college football team includes the players of Americancollege football who have been honored by various selector organizations as the best players at their respective positions. The selector organizations award the "All-America" honor annually following the conclusion of the fall college football season. The original All-America team was the1889 All-America college football team selected byCaspar Whitney.[1][2][3] In 1950, The National Collegiate Athletic Bureau, which is theNational Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) service bureau, compiled the first list of All-Americans. This list included the first-team selections on teams created for a national audience. These teams received national circulation with the intent of recognizing selections made from viewpoints that were nationwide.[4] Since 1957,College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) has bestowedAcademic All-American recognition on male and female athletes inDivisions I,II, andIII of the NCAA as well asNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics athletes, including all NCAA championship sports.
Currently, the NCAA compiles consensus all-America teams in the sports ofDivision I-FBS football and Division I men's basketball using a point system computed from All-America teams named by coaches associations or media sources. Players are chosen against other players playing at their position only. To be selected a consensus All-American, players must be chosen to the first team on at least two of the five official selectors as recognized by the NCAA. Second- and third-team honors are used to break ties. Players named first-team by all five selectors are deemedunanimous All-Americans. Currently, the NCAA recognizes All-Americans selected by the AP, AFCA, FWAA,TSN, and the WCFF to determine consensus and unanimous All-Americans.[5]
Twenty-seven players were recognized as consensus All-Americans for 2017, 14 of them being unanimous.Unanimous selections are followed by an asterisk (*).[6]
