Top 500 College Fantasy Football Running Back Seasons of All-Time

Just a week after unveiling the Top 300 Quarterback Seasons in history, we are ready to showcase the Top 500 College Fantasy Football Running Back Seasons of All-Time!

We’ve got some great names in our list including Bo Jackson, Barry Sanders, Reggie Bush, and so many more! 

Unlike the Quarterback rankings, the top of the list isn’t littered with players from the last 10 years as the passing game has continued to steal from running backs. Additionally, the dreaded running back by committee approach has also diminished running back performance. 

How the List was Created

We compiled all of the data from 1980 up through the 2021 season for running backs – inclusive of receiving data. 

We then used a formula to calculate fantasy points based on their actual numbers. 

The running backs are sorted by fantasy points per game to minimize the impact of the number of games played in a season. We did set a minimum number of games to filter out some players that may have only played 5 games in a season. 

The Scoring System

Rushing Yards: 1 point for every 10 yards

Rushing Touchdowns: 6 points

Receiving Yards: 1 points for every 10 yards

Receptions: 0.5 PPR

Receiving Touchdowns: 6 points

*Players were ranked by fantasy points per game with some other qualifiers

Who is the Real RBU?

Personally, the “Position U” claim has become extremely annoying as every school claims to be “RBU” or “LBU” etc. At CFBDynasty, we’re always in favor of letting the data do the talking. 

Of the top 500 college fantasy running back seasons since 1980, here are the top schools:

What do you think!?

Have some ideas or questions? Want to view the data differently?

We’d love to hear from you! Feel free to reach out with any feedback with comments on the post, comments on the YouTube video, tweet us, or email me brian@cfbdynasty.com. Enjoy!

Where to Watch/Listen

Barry Sanders Appreciation Section - Greatest Fantasy RB Season of All-Time

Barry Sanders’ 1988 Game-by-Game Rushing Stats
Date
OpponentResult
Att.
YardsNotes
Sept. 10
Miami, OhioW 52-20
18
178
Returned opening kickoff 100 yards for TD. 2 TDs rushing, including an 89-yarder
Sept. 24
Texas A&MW 52-15
20
157
2 TDs rushing, including a 58 yard score. Also had 61-yard punt return for TD
Oct. 1
TulsaW 56-35
33
304
5 TDs; broke school record for yardage for the 1st of three times in ’88 season
Oct. 8
at ColoradoW 41-21
24
174
4 TDs including 65-yard TD run
Oct. 15
at NebraskaL 63-42
35
189
4 TDs; at the time, the 4th-most rushing yards against any Nebraska team.
Oct. 22
MissouriW 49-21
25
154
2 TDs including 45-yard score
Oct. 29
at Kansas StateW 45-27
37
320
3 TDs; the 2nd best rushing tally in Big Eight history at the time.
Nov. 5
OklahomaL 31-28
39
215
2 TDs; Mike Gaddis gained 213 yards for the Sooners.
Nov. 12
KansasW 63-24
37
312
5 TDs; broke single-season TD record with 31 for the season at this point.
Nov. 19
at Iowa StateW 49-28
32
293
4 TDs including an 80-yard TD run; broke Big 8 season rushing record with this game
Dec. 3
vs. Texas Tech (in Tokyo)W 45-42
44
332
4 TDs. Heisman was awarded at 8am Tokyo time the day of the game.
Regular season total:
344*
2,62839 total TDs; 238.9 yards/game average
Dec. 30
vs. Wyoming (in San Diego)W 62-14
29
222
5 TDs, a Holiday Bowl record. Also completed 1 of 2 passes for 17 yards.
Overall season total:
373
2,85044 TDs; 106 receiving yds and 515 return yards

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