Forty-six Penn State student-athletes, representing seven winter sports, have earned Academic All-Big Ten honors, the most of any conference institution.

Indiana was second among league schools with 45 selections.

To be eligible for academic all-conference accolades, student-athletes must be a letterwinner in at least their second academic year at the institution and maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better.

Penn State has led all Big Ten institutions in academic all-conference honorees each of the past three years. Through the winter sports, 110 Nittany and Lady Lion student-athletes have been honored, narrowly trailing Indiana's 111 honorees.

Coach Troy Sunderland's Nittany Lion wrestling squad had 11 Academic All-Big Ten selections, tops in the conference.

Among the Penn State honorees were women's basketball All-American Kelly Mazzante and men's basketball captain Tyler Smith, both of whom were selected Third Team Verizon Academic All-Americans last month. A sophomore, Mazzante carries a 3.27 grade point average, while Smith has a 3.45 GPA in Telecommunications.

The Big Ten recognized 384 winter student-athletes.

During the 2000-01 academic year, Penn State had a school record 227 Academic All-Big Ten selections, bringing its total over the last five years to a Conference-best 1,034 selections, prior to the 2001-02 academic year.