Best TV/movie actor from every Big Ten Hockey school

Editor’s note: This is the third installment of a six-part series in which a Pucks and Rec writer will select the top contemporary entertainment alum from each school in a Division I hockey conference. The seven institutions that will comprise the Big Ten Hockey conference in 2016-17 make up this week’s edition. All filmography and award information is courtesy of the Internet Movie Database.

Michigan: Margo Martindale
A most obligatory honorable mention goes to James Earl Jones, who is in the twilight of a lengthy and stellar career. Earlier this spring, the school itself enlisted the 1955 graduate as a marquee guest speaker for its bicentennial celebration.

But back to the current entertainment scene. Though not quite as front-and-center in her most memorable roles, Martindale has been a hardware magnet of late. Her guest spot on The Americans has her defending back-to-back Primetime Emmys and also earned her a Gracie Award in 2015.

Her appearances on CBS’ The Good Wife garnered equivalent recognition at last year’s Critics Choice Awards. That was her first claim to sole possession of a prize from that guild, as she previously tied Christina Hendricks of Mad Men in 2011 when she held a supporting role on Justified.

Michigan State: James Caan
Though he peaked, awards-wise, in the 1970s and is more than a quarter-century removed from Misery, Caan still stands out above the rest of the Spartans in Hollywood. He was a part of the best-cast victory for The Red Maple Leaf at last year’s Action on Film International Film Festival, and has at least five new film roles still to come.

Minnesota: Aya Cash
As a 2004 graduate, Cash was on campus during the men’s hockey program’s last two national championship runs. In her senior year, the Gopher women won their first NCAA crown.

Now the 34-going-on-35-year-old Cash is getting close to some gratification of her own. Her breakout role as Gretchen Cutler on You’re the Worst earned her nominations at the Critics Choice, Gold Derby and Television Critics Association Awards last year.

The FX/FXX show’s early promise has doubtlessly rinsed the vinegar from short life of Fox’s Traffic Light in 2011. Since then, Cash has landed one-off spots on more mainstream programs, including American Dad!, Modern Family and The Good Wife.

Notre Dame: Richard Riehle
Sorry, George Wendt, but this is not 1990, and your substandard academic transcript from South Bend does not help matters here, either.

Conversely, Riehle, who in a 2012 interview with his alma mater’s magazine openly embraced his cult status as Office Space’s jump-to-conclusions mat inventor, has more recently been a ringer for primetime sitcoms. His laundry list of guest spots over the last five seasons alone includes Modern Family, Mom, Two and a Half Men, Black-ish and The Middle.

As a plus, with 2009’s The Sacrifice and 2012’s The Legend of Korra, the seasoned Riehle has been a part of two award-winning ensembles.

Ohio State: Patricia Heaton
Granted, The Middle has not matched the contributions of Everybody Loves Raymond to Heaton’s trophy case. The former has only drawn a Critics Choice nomination in 2011, while the latter garnered 30 individual or shared nominations, including five wins.

But how many TV stars can claim to have resurfaced from one acclaimed series and taken part in another long-lasting program?

With The Middle entering its ninth season next fall, Heaton will have logged at least a combined 18 seasons between her two best-known roles. Six of those will have followed her induction into the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Penn State: Ty Burrell
This was a compelling footrace between Burrell and his fellow former Penn State postgrad, Keegan-Michael Key. But with two individual Emmy victories and seven nominations — one for every season of Modern Family so far — in the sitcom supporting actor category, the former wins out.

While Phil Dunphy has been the runaway definition of Burrell’s career, the 49-year-old is also drawing ample attention through animated film roles. And his face will appear on the big screen this summer in Rough Night.

Wisconsin: Joan Cusack
Cusack’s senior year in Madison (1983-84) coincided with the freshman seasons of Tony Granato and Gary Suter. All three people have gone on to gratifying professional careers in their respective fields, albeit with a relative smattering of hardware to show for them.

Part of a celestial generation of a royal acting family for nearly four decades, Cusack collected her first major award at the 2015 Emmys. Five years running, she had been on the ballot for “Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series” for portraying Sheila Jackson on Shameless, and finally came out on top.

On the heels of that victory, the two-time Oscar nominee has landed five more finished or progressing film roles, plus a guest spot on Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.