Top Badger running backs of all-time

In the wake of P.J. Hill's NFL declaration, Mike Lucas ranked his top five Badger running backs of all-time. For whatever reason, I can't find the story on BadgerBeat.com now, but I know that Ron Dayne and Alan Ameche were his top two. That's where I'll start my top 15 list.

1. Ron Dayne
Who else?

2. Alan Ameche
You win a Heisman, you're at the top of this list.

3. Brian Calhoun
Quality over quantity. His 2005 was the most well-rounded season by a Badger offensive player, ever.

4. Brent Moss
Many would pick Billy Marek over Moss, but Moss led the Badgers' current resurgence. He was so good on that stretch play. Had a pretty damn good line in front of him, too. Did sharing carries with another great back help or hurt him?

5. Billy Marek
Did it for some bad teams, but never lifted them beyond that.

6. Pat Harder
"Hit 'em Again" Harder.

7. Rufus Ferguson
The Roadrunner.

8. Alan Thompson
Thompson-Ferguson-Marek was a pretty damn good back-to-back-to-back for some pretty damn bad teams.

9. Terrell Fletcher
May have been better than Moss, as he showed in late '94 after Moss was kicked off the team. Lasted a long time in the NFL.

10. Michael Bennett
That speed ...

11. Anthony Davis
Injuries limited his last two years, but he was electrifying.

12. P.J. Hill
Better than many fans gave him credit for.

13. Elroy Hirsch
Thing is, Crazylegs didn't have eye-popping numbers in college, just a couple incredible games on a balance team. Probably better at Michigan and in the pros.

14. Larry Emery

15. Marvin Artley

This list probably excludes some worthy guys from the very early days of Wisconsin football, but it's so tough to compare those guys with the others.

What does your list look like? Even just a top five or 10?

Five great players, continued

The Five Great Players post yesterday got me thinking: how has each team since the 1993 Big Ten championship team stacked up using this measuring stick? Here's what I'm thinking:

Great Players
1993 (10-1-1): Brent Moss, Joe Panos, Lamark Shackerford, Mike Thompson, Lee DeRamus
1994 (7-4-1): Terrell Fletcher, Joe Rudolph, Jeff Messenger, Cory Raymer
1995 (4-5-2): Eric Unverzagt, Darrell Bevell
1996 (8-5): Ron Dayne, Tarek Saleh, Pete Monty, Jerry Wunsch
1997 (8-5): Tony Simmons, Dayne
1998 (11-1): Dayne, Aaron Gibson, Tom Burke, Matt Davenport, Kevin Stemke
1999 (10-2): Dayne, Chris McIntosh, Wendell Bryant, Jamar Fletcher, Nick Davis, Casey Rabach
2000 (9-4): Michael Bennett, Chris Chambers, Kevin Stemke, Rabach, Bryant, Fletcher
2001 (5-7): Anthony Davis, Lee Evans, Bryant
2002 (8-6): Davis, Al Johnson, Jim Leonhard
2003 (7-6): Evans, Leonhard
2004 (9-3): Dan Buenning, Erasmus James, Anttaj Hawthorne, Leonhard
2005 (10-3): Brian Calhoun, Joe Thomas, Brandon Williams, Ken DeBauche
2006 (12-1): Thomas, Travis Beckum, P.J. Hill, Jack Ikegwuonu
2007 (9-4): Taylor Mehlhaff, Beckum

No surprise, but there's definitely a correlation between great players and great seasons.

What do you think about the players I have on here? Discuss.