The debate is seemingly endless in college football circles across the country regarding which school deserves the claim "Wide Receiver University." There are a number of schools that tend to debate over the title, including Florida, Miami, Ohio State, LSU, Michigan and Ohio State. All five of these universities had household WR names that arguments for WR-U constantly bring up — Andre Caldwell at Florida, Andre Johnson at The U, Tedd Ginn Jr. at OSU and Odell Beckham Jr. at LSU. These guys, including a number of other collegiate-turned-NFL stars continue this argument year in and year out.
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CBS Sports recently reevaluated the Wide Receiver U rankings, and they found that the true WR-U is still one that experienced most of its pass catching success during the 1980s — the Miami Hurricanes. The rankings that followed the Canes included LSU at No. 2, Ohio State at No. 3, Florida at No. 4 and Michigan at No. 5.
CBS' methodology includes one that measures college success, how many wideouts get drafted from these schools, and how many continue their success in the NFL after they get drafted. A major part of evaluating school includes combined college and NFL starts, as well as first round draft picks. So, why did CBS still pick Miami? Here's an excerpt from their findings below.
"Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson, Santana Moss and Devin Hester are some of the Miami receivers to have a major impact in the NFL over the past decade. The Hurricanes have both the most NFL starts and Pro Bowl appearances by receivers over the past decade."
CBS adds that since the Hurricanes have only had five wideouts drafted since 2006, their hold at the No. 1 spot won't last very long at all. Below is the total list of points compiled completely by CBS Sports. You can see their full report on Wide Receiver U here.
TEAM | NFL STARTS | PRO BOWLS | DRAFT PICKS | FIRST-ROUND PICKS | TOTAL POINTS |
1. Miami | 488 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 525 |
2. LSU | 404 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 445 |
3. Ohio State | 398 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 425 |
4. Florida | 291 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 308 |
5. Michigan | 264 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 280 |
[H/T CBS Sports]