Nebraska placed 22 football players on the Academic All-Big 12 Conference squad, school officials announced. No other league school had more selections. Included in Nebraska’s total were 15 first-team selections. Husker junior fullback Dane Todd of Lincoln was one of two conference players honored for having a cumulative 4.0 grade-point average.

Todd was one of six Huskers named to the league’s first-team all-academic squad for the second time. Others were senior guard Brandon Koch, junior center Kurt Mann, sophomore tight end J.B. Phillips, junior defensive back Brandon Rigoni and junior defensive back Andrew Shanle.

In order to make the first team, a player had to have at least a 3.20 GPA.

Nebraska’s other first-team selections were sophomore linebacker Lance Brandenburgh, senior defensive tackle Chris Bryant, sophomore cornerback Cortney Grixby, senior linebacker Adam Ickes, redshirt freshman wideout Todd Peterson, senior cornerback Joey Robison, senior safety Mike Stuntz, redshirt freshman wideout Nate Swift and senior safety Blake Tiedtke.

The Huskers’ second-team selections were Greg Austin, Seppo Evwaraye, Tyler Fisher, Jared Helming, Sam Koch, Gary Pike and Clayton Sievers. Second-team honorees had GPAs between 3.0 and 3.19.

“I think it’s special for our players,” Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said. “We have some great kids here who put a lot of time and effort into the academic side. Congratulations to all of those guys. That’s why they’re here.”

BUFFS’ STRENGTH: Colorado’s rushing defense, ranked No. 1 nationally, presents a challenging matchup Friday for a Nebraska squad that ranks 110th in rushing offense averaging 89.6 yards. “They’re solid,” Callahan said of the Buffaloes’ front seven. “They do a good job fundamentally up front. They’re strong at the point of attack. They have excellent hand placement across the board. And the second thing you see is their linebacker play is outstanding. They’re active and mix it up quite a bit.”

UP NEXT: Nebraska’s Thanksgiving Day schedule begins with a team breakfast at 9 a.m., followed by meetings and a short walk-through practice at Memorial Stadium. The team will leave Lincoln at about 12:15 p.m.

TRADITION: Nebraska will play on the Friday after Thanksgiving for the 16th straight year. The Huskers have played Colorado in a post-Thanksgiving contest each of the last 10 years, since the formation of the Big 12. Before 1996, Nebraska and Oklahoma squared off for six straight years on the day after Thanksgiving.

ETC.: Mike Tirico will handle play-by-play duties for ABC’s national broadcast of Friday’s game, with Tim Brant serving as analyst and Suzy Shuster reporting from the sideline. … Representatives from the Champs Sports Bowl and Alamo Bowl are expected to be on hand in Boulder.