It’s not easy picking 24 players from 54 schools to make an all-non-AQ team, but here’s what I came up with. While, several deserving guys were probably left off the list, I think this is a good representation of the best the non-AQ schools had to offer this season.

For those who follow me on Twitter (@ESPN_Others) and were in today’s chat, I thank you for the nominations. You’ll see that a lot of the guys nominated made the cut. I struggled with a lot of these choices, especially on defense. If I had one more DL spot, it likely would have gone to Nevada’s Dontay Moch. I also wished I had a couple more quarterback and running back spots because there were plenty of good ones this year.

I wanted to make sure that all of my conferences, including the Independents, were represented, but there were some no-brainers. Freddie Barnes, Jerry Hughes, Kellen Moore and Ryan Mathews were easy choices because all of those players had stellar seasons. Also, Nick Bellore and Daryl Washington were two of the most impressive linebackers I saw all year.

A little later in the day, I’m going to compile my list of top freshmen, so watch for that.

OFFENSE
Pos, Name, School
WR: Freddie Barnes, Bowling Green
WR: James Cleveland, Houston
WR: Greg Salas, Hawaii
TE: Dennis Pitta, BYU
OL: Zane Beadles, Utah
OL: Mike Iupati, Idaho
OL: John Estes, Hawaii
OL: Alonzo Durham, Nevada
OL: Marcus Cannon, TCU
QB: Kellen Moore, Boise State
RB: Ryan Mathews, Fresno State
RB: Vai Taua, Nevada

DEFENSE
Pos, Name, School
DL: Jerry Hughes, TCU
DL: Bruce Miller, Central Florida
DL: Josh McNary, Army
DL: Chris McCoy, Middle Tennessee
LB: Adrian Robinson, Temple
LB: Nick Bellore, Central Michigan
LB: Daryl Washington, TCU
DB: Kyle Wilson. Boise State
DB: Van Eskridge, East Carolina
DB: Robert Johnson, Utah
DB: Brian Lainhart, Kent State

Specialists
Pos, Name, School
PK: Alex Carlton, Army
P: Matt Dodge, East Carolina

KR: Jeremy Kerley, TCU
PR: LaVon Brazill, Ohio