Ranking the 10 best small school college football RBs of all time

A lot of talented running backs have played for smaller college football programs over the years. Out of all the greats, which 10 have been the best of the bunch?

Year in and year out, some of the most dynamic running backs in college football play for small schools. Whether they were overlooked coming out of high school or merely blossomed within a system, the annual leaderboards regularly feature Group of Five running backs at or near the top.

For the purposes of this exercise, we must first define what constitutes a “small school” player. For players from recent years, small schools are defined as those outside of the Power Five structure. During the BCS era, the delineation was marked by the Big Six which also included the Big East.

Before that, things are a bit less clear. The current power conferences (and their antecedents, such as the Big 8 and SWC for the Big 12) are all considered large schools for the purposes of this exercise. Independent programs that are now in major conferences are also included as major schools. Notre Dame will also never be confused for a small school.

Prior to the 1950s, the college football landscape was vastly different. Thus we will focus on the modern era from the late 1950s onward. Each of the players on this list garnered Heisman consideration and remain among the top running backs overall in college football history. Click ahead to see who we rated as the 10 best running backs from small schools.