The 1951 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, under head coach Ray Eliot, compiled a 9–0–1 record, won the Big Ten championship, was ranked No.
The 1951 Wisconsin Badgers football team, under head coach Ivy Williamson, compiled a 7–1–1 record, led the conference in scoring defense (5.9 points allowed per game), and was ranked No.
Defensive end Pat O'Donahue was selected as a first-team All-American by multiple selectors.
Key AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1951 season[1] AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1951 season[1] PPG = Average of points scored per game; conference leader's average displayed in bold[1] PAG = Average of points allowed per game; conference leader's average displayed in bold[1] MVP = Most valuable player as voted by players on each team as part of the voting process to determine the winner of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy; trophy winner in bold The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP)as first-team players on the 1951 All-Big Ten Conference football team.
[2] The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were: Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were: Illinois running back Johnny Karras finished sixth in the voting for the 1951 Heisman Trophy.