UCLA would like to recruit some linebackers, please. Thus, its football account made this claim Tuesday:
Which college football program is the real [Position] U?
Every other college football program in the country claims to be the definitive university for one position or another. Let’s throw some math at this!
#linebackeru pic.twitter.com/psyVu1hswP
— UCLA Football (@UCLAFootball) June 17, 2013
Fans of the traditional Linebacker U, Penn State, took offense, as did everyone who wonders why the letter U is being quoted. Based on NFL Draft returns, Penn State indeed has a better claim to the linebacker crown than does UCLA, but what about compared to every other school too?
And while we’re at it, how about the other positions for which a school could claim to serve as the nation’s premier institution? Miami and Notre Dame fans argue about Tight End U, Georgia and USC fans claim Tailback U, and Tennessee used to be known as Wide Receiver U. (These schools also offer academic degrees in many courses of study.)
All-time first-team All-Americans would probably be the best gauge, but there’s no full database of even the AP’s, as far as I know.
Thus, going by first-round picks for each over various time spans (via Pro Football Reference) and winners of each position’s biggest individual award -- all metrics the parties involved would never agree with each other on:
| NFL Draft 10 years | NFL Draft 30 years | NFL Draft 50 years | Position award | ||
| QB | USC (3); Auburn, Cal, Florida, FSU (2) | Cal, USC (4); Oregon, UCLA, Washington State (3) | Cal, USC (5); Florida (4) | BYU (4); Florida, Oklahoma (3) since 1981 | |
| RB | Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Cal, Virginia Tech (2) | Penn State (7); Miami, Oklahoma (6) | Oklahoma, Penn State (9); Ohio State (8) | Texas (3) since 1990 | |
| WR | Ohio State (4); LSU, Oklahoma State (3) | Tennessee (11); Miami, Ohio State (7) | Tennessee (11); Ohio State (8) | Oklahoma State, Pitt, Texas Tech (2) since 1994 | |
| TE | Miami (2) | Notre Dame (5); Miami (4) | Notre Dame (5); Miami (4) | 13 with 1 each | |
| OL | Alabama, Oklahoma, Wisconsin (4); Iowa, USC, Virginia, (3) | USC (18); Ohio State (9) | USC (22); Ohio State (14) | Nebraska (9); Oklahoma (5) since 1946 | |
| DL | LSU, Penn State, USC (5); FSU, UNC (4) | Miami (15); UNC (11) | Miami (16); Notre Dame, UNC (11) | Georgia (2) since 2002 | |
| LB | Miami, USC (3); Georgia, Ohio State, Texas (2) | Ohio State, USC (8); Alabama (7) | Alabama, USC (9); FSU, Michigan State, Nebraska, Tennessee (6) | Oklahoma (4) since 1985 | |
| DB | Miami (5); Texas (4) | Miami, Texas (12); Ohio State (10) | Miami, Ohio State, Texas (12) | Oklahoma (3) since 1986 |
Of course, there’s no way to settle this, since Akron fans can claim Godbody Heisman Best Players U, Officially Accredited By The Government if they want, and there’s not a thing you can do about it.
Beyond these numbers, who ya got for each position?
