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Who are the best running backs in college football history?

It’s not an easy question to answer. Different eras mean uneven standards by which to judge players, and what might have statistically constituted an All-American season years ago might not even draw all-conference attention nowadays.

So in order to select the top 16 running backs of all time, there are a number of different variables to be considered, but the overriding factor should be how tough the player was to stop. Some went around defenders, others went through them and a handful could do both exceptionally well.

Consequently, in order to make this list, one had to pretty much had to have won a Heisman Trophy, or done something so impressive that he was impossible to ignore. That’s why players like Cedric Benson, Doc Blanchard, Glenn Davis, Eric Dickerson, Marshall Faulk, Eddie George, Derrick Henry, Mike Rozier, Billy Sims and LaDainian Tomlinson are all very, very close, but didn’t make the cut.