Big 12 Conference only lands one player on list of college football’s greatest players of all time 

Tony Adame

Big 12 Conference only lands one player on list of college football’s greatest players of all time  image

An old list is stirring up memories and serving as a reminder that the Big 12 Conference is almost starting anew when it comes to college football — at least in a historical context. 

Bleacher Report’s 2010 story ranking the greatest college football players of all time now features just one player in its Top 30, with former Oklahoma State running back and 1988 Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders coming in at No. 5 on the list. The list came up again after a tweet from College Football Alerts

Of the Top 30 players on the list, nine came from teams that once called the Big 12 home — five from Texas and four from Nebraska. Former Georgia running back and 1982 Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker took the No. 1 spot. Former Nebraska quarterback and two-time national champion Tommie Frazier was the highest-ranked player from a current or former Big 12 school at No. 3.

Tony Adame

Tony Adame Photo

Tony Adame covers the Big 12 Conference for The Sporting News. He is a graduate of Southern Oregon University and has been a sports journalist for 20 years. He has won APSE Awards for breaking news, games stories and feature writing. He is also the writer and host of the Florida Society of News Editors Award-winning podcast The Sheriff: Murder, Lies & Revenge in Okaloosa County for USA Today/Gannett.