The 1981 All-Big Eight Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Big Eight Conference teams for the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season. The selectors for the 1981 season included the Associated Press (AP) and United Press International (UPI).

Offensive selections

Quarterbacks

• Turner Gill, Nebraska (AP-1; UPI-2)
• John Quinn, Iowa State (AP-2; UPI-1)

Running backs

• Mike Rozier, Nebraska (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Stanley Wilson, Oklahoma (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Dwayne Crutchfield, Iowa State (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Roger Craig, Nebraska (AP-2; UPI-2)
• Bob Meyer, Missouri (AP-2; UPI-2)
• Shawn Jones, Oklahoma State (AP-2)
• Phil Bales, Nebraska (UPI-2)

Tight ends

• Jamie Williams, Nebraska (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Andy Gibler, Missouri (AP-2; UPI-2)

Wide receivers

• Wayne Capers, Kansas (AP-1; UPI-1)
• James Caver, Missouri (AP-2; UPI-2)

Centers

• Dave Rimington, Nebraska (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Brad Edelman, Missouri (AP-2; UPI-2)

Offensive guards

• Terry Crouch, Oklahoma (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Don Key, Oklahoma (AP-1; UPI-1)
• David Lawrence, Kansas (AP-2; UPI-2)
• Mike Mandelko, Nebraska (AP-2)
• Vince Rafferty, Colorado (UPI-2)

Offensive tackles

• Dan Hurley, Nebraska (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Lyndle Byford, Oklahoma (AP-1; UPI-2)
• Karl Nelson, Iowa State (AP-2; UPI-1)
• Randy Theiss, Nebraska (AP-2)
• Conrad Goode, Missouri (UPI-2)

Defensive selections

Defensive ends

• Reggie Singletary, Kansas State (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Jimmy Williams, Nebraska (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Pete Perry, Colorado (AP-2; UPI-1)
• Bryan Horn, Kansas (AP-2; UPI-2)
• Tony Felici, Nebraska (UPI-2)

Defensive tackles

• Jeff Gaylord, Missouri (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Rick Bryan, Oklahoma (AP-1; UPI-2)
• Shamus McDonough, Iowa State (AP-2; UPI-2)
• Henry Waechter, Nebraska (AP-2)

Nose guards

• Gary Lewis, Oklahoma State (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Greg Smith, Kansas (AP-2; UPI-2)

Linebackers

• Ricky Young, Oklahoma State (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Kyle McNorton, Kansas (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Mike Green, Oklahoma State (AP-2; UPI-2)
• Steve Damkroger, Nebraska (AP-2; UPI-2)

Defensive backs

• Kevin Potter, Missouri (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Pete DiClementi, Oklahoma State (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Joe Brown, Iowa State (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Joe Krejci, Nebraska (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Gary Morrill, Kansas State (AP-2; UPI-2)
• Victor Scott, Colorado (AP-2; UPI-2)
• Demetrious Johnson, Missouri (AP-2)
• Ric Lindquist, Nebraska (UPI-2)
• Ronnie Osborne, Iowa State (UPI-2)

Special teams

Place-kicker

• Ron Verrilli, Missouri (AP-1)
• Larry Roach, Oklahoma State (UPI-1)
• Bruce Kallmeyer, Kansas (AP-2; UPI-2)

Punter

• Bucky Scribner, Kansas (AP-1; UPI-1)
• Grant Campbell, Nebraska (AP-2; UPI-2)

Key

AP = Associated Press^[1]

UPI = United Press International^[2]