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.

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

Rank College Appearances 1 Miami 118 2 USC 116 3 UCLA 110 4 Michigan 106 5 Penn State 104 6 Notre Dame 102 7 Tennessee 97 8 Nebraska 92 9 Colorado 91 10 Georgia 89 11 Ohio State 88 12 LSU 85 13 Alabama 83 14 Florida State 82 15 California 78 T16 Florida 77 Oklahoma 77 Stanford 77 19 Texas A&M 73 T20 Arizona State 72 Michigan State 72 T22 North Carolina 68 Texas 68 24 Clemson 67 T25 BYU 63 Oregon 63 27 Pittsburgh 62 T28 Illinois 61 Boston College 61 Purdue 61 31 Washington 59 32 Minnesota 56 33 Auburn 53 T34 San Diego State 52 Iowa 52 36 Arizona 51 37 Louisville 50 38 Wisconsin 49 39 Georgia Tech 48 40 Virginia 47 T41 Oklahoma State 45 Syracuse 45 43 Maryland 44 44 Kansas 43 T45 Kentucky 41 TCU 41 47 Mississippi State 40 T48 Baylor 39 NC State 39 T50 Arkansas 38 Utah 38 52 Ole Miss 37 53 South Carolina 35 54 Houston 34 T55 Rutgers 33 Missouri 33 Texas Tech 33 T58 Tennessee State 32 Washington State 32 West Virginia 32 61 Virginia Tech 31 62 Hawaii 29 T63 Colorado State 28 Grambling State 28 SMU 28 T66 Florida A&M 27 Fresno State 27 Temple 27 Utah State 27 T70 Northwestern 26 Southern 26 Tulane 26 East Carolina 26 Oregon State 26 San Jose State 26 T76 Duke 25 Wake Forest 25 T78 Marshall 24 Indiana 24 T80 Cincinnati 23 Jackson State 23 Tulsa 23 Wyoming 23 Memphis 23 T85 Southern Miss 22 Louisiana Tech 22 T87 Idaho 20 Iowa State 20 Kansas State 20 Kent State 20 Western Illinois 20 92 Nevada 19 T93 Rice 18 South Carolina State 18 Texas Southern 18 T96 Northwestern State 16 South Dakota State 16 T98 Louisiana-Lafayette 15 Vanderbilt 15 West Texas A&M 15 UCF 15 T102 Alabama A&M 14 Morgan State 14 New Mexico 14 Texas-El Paso 14 Boise State 14 T107 Arkansas-Pine Bluff 13 Eastern Michigan 13 Louisiana-Monroe 13 Toledo 13 Navy 13 T112 Alcorn State 12 Howard 12 Long Beach State 12 North Dakota State 12 North Texas 12 Texas A&M-Commerce 12 Texas A&M-Kingsville 12 Air Force 12 William & Mary 12 T121 Fort Valley State 11 Mid-Eastern Shore 11 Pacific 11 Portland State 11 Troy 11 UNLV 11 T127 Carson-Newman 10 James Madison 10 Texas-Arlington 10

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