1988 College Football All-America Team

The 1988 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1988. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) recognizes five selectors as "official" for the 1988 season. They are: (1) the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA); (2) the Associated Press (AP) selected based on the votes of sports writers at AP newspapers; (3) the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA); (4) the United Press International (UPI) selected based on the votes of sports writers at UPI newspapers; and (5) the Walter Camp Football Foundation (WC). Other notable selectors included Football News (FN), the Gannett News Service (GNS), the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), Scripps Howard (SH), and The Sporting News (TSN).

Consensus All-Americans
The following charts identify the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans for the year 1988 and displays which first-team designations they received.

Quarterbacks

 * Troy Aikman, UCLA (CFHOF) (UPI-1, WC, GNS, TSN)
 * Steve Walsh, Miami (AP-1, FWAA, GNS)
 * Rodney Peete, USC (AP-2; AFCA, GNS, SH)
 * Major Harris, West Virginia (AP-3; GNS)

Running backs

 * Barry Sanders, Oklahoma State (CFHOF)  (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
 * Anthony Thompson, Indiana (UPI-1, AP-2; FWAA, WC, TSN)
 * Tim Worley, Georgia (AP-2; AFCA, FWAA, WC, GNS, SH)
 * Darren Lewis, Texas A & M (AP-1, GNS, TSN)
 * Cleveland Gary, Miami (Fla.) (AP-3; FN)
 * Tony Boles, Michigan (AP-3)

Wide receivers

 * Hart Lee Dykes, Oklahoma State (AP-1, UPI-1, WC, SH, TSN)
 * Jason Phillips, Houston (AFCA, AP-1, UPI-1, FWAA, SH)
 * Erik Affholter, USC (AFCA, AP-2, TSN)
 * Clarkston Hines, Duke (AP-2, FWAA)
 * Naz Worthen, North Carolina State (GNS)
 * Andre Rison, Michigan State (GNS)
 * Boo Mitchell, Vanderbilt (AP-3)
 * Kendal Smith, Utah State (AP-3)

Tight ends

 * Marv Cook, Iowa (AFCA, AP-2, UPI-1, GNS)
 * Troy Sadowski, Georgia (WC)
 * Wesley Walls, Mississippi (AP-1)
 * Walter Reeves, Auburn (TSN)
 * Charles Arbuckle, UCLA (SH)
 * Scott Galbraith, USC (AP-3)

Centers

 * Jake Young, Nebraska (AP-1, FWAA)
 * John Vitale, Michigan (UPI-1, AP-2; WC)
 * Jeff Uhlenhake, Ohio State (TSN)
 * Bern Brostek, Washington (GNS)
 * Jeff Garnica, North Carolina (AP-3)

Offensive guards

 * Anthony Phillips, Oklahoma (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC)
 * Mike Utley, Washington State (AFCA, AP-1, UPI-1, FWAA, SH)
 * Mark Stepnoski, Pittsburgh (AFCA, AP-2; FWAA, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
 * Steve Wisniewski, Penn State (AFCA, GNS, TSN)
 * Rick Phillips, West Virginia (AP-2 [OT]; SH)
 * Joe Wolf, Boston College (AP-2)
 * Freddie Childress, Arkansas (AP-3)
 * John Stroia, West Virginia (AP-3)

Offensive tackles

 * Tony Mandarich, Michigan State (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
 * Andy Heck, Notre Dame (AP-1, UPI-1, TSN)
 * Pat Tomberlin, Florida State (AP-2, WC, SH)
 * Tom Ricketts, Pittsburgh (GNS)
 * Kevin Haverdink, Western Michigan (AP-3)
 * Jim Thompson, Auburn (AP-3)

Defensive ends

 * Bill Hawkins, Miami (AFCA, WC, SH)
 * Frank Stams, Notre Dame (AP-1, UPI-1)
 * Trace Armstrong, Florida (GNS, TSN)

Defensive tackles

 * Mark Messner, Michigan (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
 * Tracy Rocker, Auburn (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
 * Wayne Martin, Arkansas (AP-1, UPI-1, FWAA, TSN)
 * Tim Ryan, USC (FWAA)
 * Dave Haight, Iowa (WC)
 * Benji Roland, Auburn (TSN [NG])

Linebackers

 * Broderick Thomas, Nebraska (AFCA, AP-1 [DE], FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
 * Derrick Thomas, Alabama (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
 * Michael Stonebreaker, Notre Dame (CFHOF) (AP-1, FWAA, WC, GNS, SH)
 * Keith DeLong, Tennessee (AP-1 UPI-1, GNS, TSN)
 * Percy Snow, Michigan State (TSN)
 * Carnell Lake, UCLA (FWAA)
 * Britt Hager, Texas (AFCA, SH)
 * Jerry Olsavsky, Pittsburgh (AFCA)

Defensive backs

 * Deion Sanders, Florida State (CFHOF) (AFCA, AP-1, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
 * Donnell Woolford, Clemson (AFCA, FWAA, UPI-1, WC, GNS, SH, TSN)
 *  Darryl Henley, UCLA (AFCA, UPI-1, WC, SH, TSN)
 * Louis Oliver, Florida (AFCA, AP-1, WC, SH)
 * Markus Paul, Syracuse (AP-1, FWAA, TSN)
 * Mark Carrier, USC (UPI-1)
 * Greg Jackson, LSU (GNS)
 * Bubba McDowell, Miami (Fla) (GNS)

Kickers

 * Kendall Trainor, Arkansas (AFCA, AP-1, UPI-1, WC, SH, TSN)
 * Chris Jacke, UTEP (FWAA, GNS)

Punters

 * Keith English, Colorado (AP-1, UPI-1, WC, GNS, TSN)
 * Pat Thompson, BYU (AFCA, FWAA, SH)

Returners

 * Tyrone Thurman, Texas Tech (AP-1)
 * James Henry, Southern Mississippi (TSN)

Key

 * Bold – Consensus All-American
 * -1 – First-team selection
 * -2 – Second-team selection
 * -3 – Third-team selection
 * CFHOF = College Football Hall of Fame inductee

Official selectors

 * AFCA – American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), selected by the members of the AFCA for the Kodak All-America team
 * AP – Associated Press
 * FWAA – Football Writers Association of America
 * UPI – United Press International
 * WC – Walter Camp Football Foundation

Other selectors

 * FN – Football News
 * GNS – Gannett News Service
 * NEA – Newspaper Enterprise Association, in conjunction with World Almanac
 * SH – Scripps Howard
 * TSN – The Sporting News