College football fans love to argue over pretty much everything. Whatever aspect of college football it may be, whether it's the teams, the players, the schools, the conferences they play in, or more trivial things such as which university should be called "wide receiver U," college football fans will defend their turf with pride.

Another fun topic for college fans to debate is which conference puts out the best NFL players. Or better yet, if the best players from each conference formed teams and took the field against each other, which one would come out on top?

We're wondering the answer to that question ourselves, and we're going to attempt to find out.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be unveiling our picks for the best players in each of college football's Power 5 conferences -- the ACC, the Big Ten, the Big XII, the Pac-12, and the SEC -- as well as one team for the best players from the non-Power 5 conferences and sub-FBS schools. Then, with your help, we're going to decide which team is the best.

This exercise certainly won't be flawless. For starters, there's the issue of conference realignment. Several teams are now in different conferences from the ones that they were in when many NFL players were in college. The easiest way to create these teams is to assign players to conference teams based on what conference their schools currently play in, which is what we'll be doing, but it will also certainly result in a big asterisk because as you'll see, doing it this way will help some conferences more than others and hurt one conference in particular (the Big XII). There will also be debate over which players get selected as in many cases there are multiple excellent candidates for a given position that will get left out.

But, as is the case with any college football debate, it's all in good fun.

Without further ado, let's get it started. Each conference will have a quarterback, two running backs, two receivers, one tight end, two tackles, two guards, one center, four defensive linemen, two outside linebackers, two inside linebackers, two cornerbacks, and two safeties. We're going with four defensive linemen and four linebackers in an attempt to make sure we include defensive players who play in both a 3-4 and 4-3 alignment in the NFL. We also want to make sure we get as many of the best players on each team as possible, so there may be a slight position shift or two here and there in order to fit everyone in.

The first conference to have their selections unveiled will be the Big Ten.

NFL All-Big Ten Team

Quarterback: Tom Brady, Michigan/New England Patriots

Between Brady, Drew Brees, and Russell Wilson, the Big Ten has a terrific choice in quarterbacks. Picking between Brees and Brady is bound to spur some arguments. Brady has the career resume and had a better 2014 season than Brees, so he's getting the nod, but let's face it, there are those who would pick Brees here based on "deflategate" alone, fair or not. Either way, the Big Ten doesn't have to worry about the quarterback position.

Running Back: Le'Veon Bell, Michigan State/Pittsburgh Steelers; Carlos Hyde, Ohio State/San Francisco 49ers

Bell is a shoo-in after emerging as one of the NFL's best running backs last season and gives the Big Ten a terrific rushing and receiving threat. Picking the second back isn't as clear. It may look different a year from now once the strong crop of Big Ten rookie running backs get their chance (Melvin Gordon is drawing rave early reviews in San Diego, as is Ameer Abdullah in Detroit), but for now, the pick is Hyde, who is expected to get his chance as lead back in San Francisco this year.

Wide Receiver: Eric Decker, Minnesota/N.Y. Jets; Torrey Smith, Maryland/San Francisco 49ers

Here is a bit of an Achilles heel for the Big Ten. Not that Decker and Smith are bad by any means, but as you'll see as this feature unfolds, the Big Ten lags behind the elite receivers other conferences can boast. Decker battled nagging injuries throughout the year and had an awful quarterback situation in New York but still managed 74 catches for 962 yards and five touchdowns. Smith caught 49 passes for 767 yards and 11 touchdowns for Baltimore before signing a fat free agent contract with San Francisco.

Tight End: Vernon Davis, Maryland/San Francisco 49ers

Davis is coming off his worst NFL season (26 catches, 245 yards, two touchdowns), due in part to nagging injuries. But it's still tough to pick over him at this spot. Tight end's another position that isn't exactly the deepest for the Big Ten.

Offensive Line: OT Joe Thomas, Wisconsin/Cleveland Browns; OT Rick Wagner, Wisconsin/Baltimore Ravens; G Marshal Yanda, Iowa/Baltimore

Ravens; G Kevin Zeitler, Wisconsin/Cincinnati Bengals; C Nick Mangold, Ohio State/New York Jets.

There are two absolute no-brainers here in Thomas and Yanda, who might be the two best offensive linemen in the NFL at the moment. The six-time Pro Bowler Mangold gets the nod at center, although Travis Frederick (Wisconsin/Dallas Cowboys) is creeping up right behind him. From there, it's not as easy of a call. There are several candidates, but we went with a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately approach and selected two linemen on the way up -- Zeitler, who was ranked as a top ten guard last season by Pro Football Focus, and Wagner, who established himself as a Pro Bowl-caliber tackle last season before going down to injury in December.

Defensive ends: J.J. Watt, Wisconsin/Houston Texans; Cameron Wake, Penn State/Miami Dolphins; Defensive tackles: Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska/Miami Dolphins; Johnathan Hankins, Ohio State/N.Y. Giants

Watt and Suh on the same team? Sheesh. Those two alone might make the Big Ten's defensive front perhaps the most formidable of any conference. After adding in a four-time Pro Bowler in Wake and a rising defensive tackle in Hankins (67 tackles, seven sacks), this group would be a terror.

Linebackers: Tamba Hali, Penn State/Kansas City Chiefs; Ryan Kerrigan, Purdue/Washington Redskins; Lavonte David, Nebraska/Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Navorro Bowman, Penn State/San Francisco 49ers.

Picking out four linebackers was a tough choice. There were too many to choose from, so some good ones were left out, in particular second-team All-Pro DeAndre Levy (Wisconsin/Detroit Lions). In the end, we decided to cheat a bit and slide 4-3 OLB Lavonte David inside in order to make room for edge rushing threats in Hali and Kerrigan. Bowman missed 2014 with a torn ACL and MCL, but he's been too good when healthy to leave off, and early returns during the offseason suggest he looks to be in good form heading into training camp.

Cornerback: Vontae Davis, Illinois/Indianapolis Colts; Jason McCourty, Rutgers/Tennessee Titans.

Davis has emerged as one of the league's top cornerbacks. There's a bit of a drop-off after him, but McCourty is a solid choice for the second spot. Like wide receiver, there's not too much depth at this position for the Big Ten at the moment, although there's young talent on the way, such as Trae Waynes (Michigan State/Minnesota Vikings) and Darqueze Dennard (Michigan State/Cincinnati Bengals).

Safety: Devin McCourty, Rutgers/New England Patriots; Charles Woodson, Michigan/Oakland Raiders

McCourty, who has been one of the league's top safeties, surely gets a spot here. For the other we'll go with the future Hall of Famer Woodson, who at age 38 managed to rack up 113 tackles (a career high) and four interceptions last season and became the first player in NFL history with 50 interceptions and 20 sacks.

Check back Wednesday for the next conference to be revealed!