Super Bowl players can be found anywhere. How else to explain that Rutgers -- yes, Rutgers -- has the most players on Super Bowl LI rosters with five? That's more than double any other Big Ten school and one ahead of Alabama (which has four on its main roster, five if you count the practice squad), LSU and Stanford.

The Scarlet Knights had four players in the Super Bowl two years ago when the New England Patriots last made the game. Rutgers does have a winning record in eight of the past 11 seasons, though it went 4-8 in 2016.

Still, this recent trend of Super Bowl talent is an unusual development for a program with virtually no history of putting NFL players into the biggest game. For the Super Bowl's first 48 years, Rutgers had 24 player appearances. To put that in perspective, Grambling and Tennessee State had more.

Now the Scarlet Knights have nine appearances in the past three Super Bowls. That jumps them into a tie for 55th all-time and ahead of schools such as Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Washington State.

Miami remains No. 1 for all-time Super Bowl player appearances (118) during the 51-year history of the game. UCLA stayed third and moved within six appearances of cross-town rival USC, which is No. 2.

Michigan moved out of a tie with Penn State for sole possession of fourth place. Texas A&M joined the top 20 by jumping Arizona State and Michigan State.

sbteams17.jpg
Graphic illustration by Michael Meredith

Tennessee State remains the best small-school producer of Super Bowl appearances (32). That's more than eight Power Five schools possess all-time.

Speaking of small schools, say hello to Monmouth, California (Pa.) and Southeastern Louisiana. They're joining the Super Bowl Appearances Club in 2017 for the first time.

In the Super Bowl's 51-year history: 64 percent of player appearances come from the Power Five conferences as they're currently comprised, 16 percent come from the remaining Football Bowl Subdivision schools, and 20 percent come from lower-level colleges, such as those in the Football Championship Subdivision, NCAA Divisions II and III, NAIA and junior college.

There's more than one path to reach the Super Bowl. Ask Rutgers players.

College player appearances across 51 Super Bowls

RankCollegeAppearances
1Miami118
2USC116
3UCLA110
4Michigan106
5Penn State104
6Notre Dame102
7Tennessee97
8Nebraska92
9Colorado91
10Georgia89
11Ohio State88
12LSU85
13Alabama83
14Florida State82
15California78
T16Florida77
Oklahoma77
Stanford77
19Texas A&M73
T20Arizona State72
Michigan State72
T22North Carolina68
Texas68
24Clemson67
T25BYU63
Oregon63
27Pittsburgh62
T28Illinois61
Boston College61
Purdue61
31Washington59
32Minnesota56
33Auburn53
T34San Diego State52
Iowa52
36Arizona51
37Louisville50
38Wisconsin49
39Georgia Tech48
40Virginia47
T41Oklahoma State45
Syracuse45
43Maryland44
44Kansas43
T45Kentucky41
TCU41
47Mississippi State40
T48Baylor39
NC State39
T50Arkansas38
Utah38
52Ole Miss37
53South Carolina35
54Houston34
T55Rutgers33
Missouri33
Texas Tech33
T58Tennessee State32
Washington State32
West Virginia32
61Virginia Tech31
62Hawaii29
T63Colorado State28
Grambling State28
SMU28
T66Florida A&M27
Fresno State27
Temple27
Utah State27
T70Northwestern26
Southern26
Tulane26
East Carolina26
Oregon State26
San Jose State26
T76Duke25
Wake Forest25
T78Marshall24
Indiana24
T80Cincinnati23
Jackson State23
Tulsa23
Wyoming23
Memphis23
T85Southern Miss22
Louisiana Tech22
T87Idaho20
Iowa State20
Kansas State20
Kent State20
Western Illinois20
92Nevada19
T93Rice18
South Carolina State18
Texas Southern18
T96Northwestern State16
South Dakota State16
T98Louisiana-Lafayette15
Vanderbilt15
West Texas A&M15
UCF15
T102Alabama A&M14
Morgan State14
New Mexico14
Texas-El Paso14
Boise State14
T107Arkansas-Pine Bluff13
Eastern Michigan13
Louisiana-Monroe13
Toledo13
Navy13
T112Alcorn State12
Howard12
Long Beach State12
North Dakota State12
North Texas12
Texas A&M-Commerce12
Texas A&M-Kingsville12
Air Force12
William & Mary12
T121Fort Valley State11
Mid-Eastern Shore11
Pacific11
Portland State11
Troy11
UNLV11
T127Carson-Newman10
James Madison10
Texas-Arlington10

T130 (9): Central Michigan, Kutztown, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Prairie View

T135 (8): Alabama State, Arkansas State, Colgate, Montana State, New Mexico State, South Florida, Stephen F. Austin, Weber State, Western Carolina, Wichita State, Yale, Brown, Youngstown State, Bethune-Cookman, Connecticut

T150 (7): Biship, Boston University, Bowling Green, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, Chadron State, Cornell, Eastern Kentucky, Miami (OH), New Hampshire, North Dakota, Sacramento State, UMass, Villanova, Abeline Christian, Delaware, North Carolina A&T

T166 (6): Angelo State, Aurora, Ball State, Cal State-Fullerton, Central State, Hofstra, McNeese State, Montana, North Alabama, Northern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Rhode Island, Tampa, Virginia Union, Western Michigan, South Dakota

T182 (5): Akron, Central Missouri State, Columbia, Concordia-Moorhead, Delaware State, Eastern Washington, Elizabeth City State, Hampton, Idaho State, Jacksonville State, Middle Tennessee, New Mexico Military Institute, Northwestern Missouri State, Ohio, Ouachita Baptist, Richmond, Salem, Sam Houston State, Southern Illinois, Texas State, Towson

T203 (4): Allen, Amherst, Appalachian State, Augustana, Buffalo, California-Riverside, Central Arkansas, Central College, Emporia State, Harvard, Henderson State, Illinois State, Lamar, Langston, Mesa, Mississippi Valley State, Northern Michigan, Princeton, Santa Clara, Savannah State, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Wabash, West Chester, Eastern Illinois, Valdosta State

T228 (3): Albany State, Bucknell, Central Oklahoma, Chowan, Coastal Carolina, Detroit Mercy, Eastern Illinois, Ferris State, Florida Atlantic, Furman, Georgia Southern, Liberty, Los Angeles State, Maine, Marquette, Michigan Tech, Morehead State, Morris Brown, Nebraska-Omaha, New Mexico Highlands, Northeastern, Pittsburg State, Southern Connecticut, Tennessee Tech, The Citadel, U.S. International, UAB, Upper Iowa, Valparaiso, Wayne State, Western Kentucky, Winston-Salem State, Wisconsin Superior

T261 (2): Anderson (Ind.), Ashland, Bloomsburg, Bridgeport, Cal State-Bakersfield, Calgary, Cameron, Carthage, Dartmouth, Elon, Florida International, Gardner-Webb, Henderson JC, Holy Cross, Howard Payne, John Carroll, Kentucky State, Lehigh, Livingstone, Midwestern State, Mississippi College, Missouri Southern, Morningside, Murray State, Nicholls State, North Carolina Central, Philander Smith, Pierce, Regina, Shippensburg, Southern Arkansas, Tennessee-Martin, Tiffin, Trinity (Texas), Trinity Valley CC, Tuskegee, Washburn, Wisconsin-LaCrosse, Yankton, Holy Cross, West Alabama

T302 (1): Arkansas Tech, Assumption, Ausburg, Austin Peay State, Benedictine, Butte JC, Cal Lutheran, Cal State-Chico, Cal State-Hayward, Cal State-Northridge, California-Davis, California (Pa.), Catawba, Clarion, Clark, Coast Guard, College of the Sequoias, Concordia-St. Paul, Connecticut State, Davidson, Dayton, Deakin, Drake, Duquesne, East Central, East Tennessee State, Ferrum, Fort Hays State, Gettysburg, Grand Valley State, Hamline, Harding, Hardin-Simmons, Humboldt State, Indiana (Pa.), Iowa Central, Johnson C. Smith, Kings Point, Lakeland, Lambuth, Lane, Lewis & Clark, Lindenwood, Loyola (La.), Macalester, Manitoba, McGill, Mississippi Delta CC, Mississippi Gulf Coast, Missouri Western State, Monmouth, Morehouse, Mount San Antonio JC, Mount Union, Nebraska-Kearney, New Haven, Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, Northern State, Northwestern Oklahoma State, Oregon Tech, Ottawa (Kan.), Plymouth State, Robert Morris, Samford, San Diego, San Francisco State, Southeast Missouri State, Southeastern Louisiana, Seattle, Shepherd, Sherbrooke, Sonoma State, Southwest Missouri State, Springfield, St. Augustine's, St. Joseph's (Ind.), St. Mary's (Canada), Tarkio, Texas-San Antonio, Trinity (Ill.), Truman State, Tusculum, Union, Virginia Military Institute, Virginia State, Washington (Mo.), West Georgia, West Virginia State, Western Ontario, Western Oregon, Williams, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Wisconsin-Whitewater, Wofford, Wooster