Linebacker U

because I’m curious at the moment

University 1tB101 elseB102 1tAA3 elseAA 1rdNFLd4 elseNFLd cfbHOF proHOF
The Ohio State University 135 ??? 196   87   18 0
Penn State ??? ??? 179   310   211 112

Notes about the Measures:

  1. Right now, for my interest, this list is limited to observations of The Ohio State University and Penn State since I’m testing to see if Penn State has a legitimate claim to “Linebacker U” even within its own conference. Moreover, I include Ohio State since I have a clear bias towards them and wonder if we could rightfully claim the throne of Linebacker U and lord it over them. This is obviously not appropriate since I don’t test against other programs with documented success in the Big Ten (basically: Michigan). I’m willing to accept submissions, though.
  2. Other programs — chiefly Miami (FL) and Florida State — have made claims or have had claims advanced on behalf of them, to being Linebacker U. I do not include them or any other program for two reasons: 1) my interest is examining what claim Penn State could have to being Linebacker U and comparatively and 2) with fluctuation in conference alignments between independent status, the Big East and ACC, a conference measure related to 1tB10 and elseB10 would not be in my interest to clarify.
  1. 1tB10 is gathered from all years in which Penn State and Ohio State were joint participants in the Big Ten Conference (since 1993). All times a linebacker for either school received a First Team Big Ten nomination is observed, thus not discriminating against multiple times a linebacker received. I use the coach’s voting because I assert as an a priori assumption that coaches are not as prone to bias as journalists are, since I hate journalists. [↩]
  2. elseB10 — related to the first measure — is gathered for all years in which a linebacker received a 2nd, 3rd, or Honorable Mention all-conference award for all years in which Ohio State and Penn State were joint participants in the Big Ten Conference. [↩]
  3. This measure is the total of all first-team All-American linebackers from the years 1950 to the end of the 2007 schedule. 1950 might be perceived as an arbitrary starting date for observation, but I choose 1950 since it’s the first year of the first decade after World War II [↩]
  4. [source] 1rdNFLd is an aggregate statistic of all times a player was drafted, designated as a linebacker, in the first round of the NFL Draft. I use 1970 as a starting point since it is considered the “modern era” (post AFL) [↩]
  5. Lorenzo Styles 1993,1994 ** Andy Katzenmoyer 1996,1997,1998 ** Na’il Diggs 1998 ** Joe Cooper 2000 ** Matt Wilhelm 2002 ** AJ Hawk 2003,2004,2005 ** James Laurinaitis 2006,2007 [↩]
  6. [source] Ike Kelley 1964,1965 ** Randy Gradishar 1972,1973 ** Tom Cousineau 1977,1978 ** Marcus Marek 1982 ** Pepper Johnson 1985 ** Chris Spielman 1986,1987 ** Steve Tovar 1991,1992 ** Andy Katzenmoyer 1997 ** Na’il Diggs 1999 ** Matt Wilhelm 2002 ** AJ Hawk 2004,2005 ** James Laurinaitis 2006,2007 [↩]
  7. Rick Middleton 1974-13 ** Randy Gradishar 1974-14 ** Bob Brudzinski 1977-23 ** Tom Cousineau 1979-1 ** Craig Powell 1995-30 ** Andy Katzenmoyer 1999-28 ** AJ Hawk 2006-5 ** Bobby Carpenter 2006-18 [↩]
  8. [source] Randy Gradishar 1998 [↩]
  9. [source] Dennis Onkotz 1968,1969 ** Jack Ham 1970 ** Charlie Zapiec 1971 ** John Skorupan 1972 ** Ed O’Neil 1973 ** Greg Buttle 1975 ** Kurt Allerman 1976 ** Shane Conlan 1985,1986 ** Andre Collins 1989 ** LaVar Arrington 1998,1999 ** Brandon Short 1999 ** Paul Posluszny 2005,2006 ** Dan Connor 2007 [↩]
  10. Ed O’Neil 1974-8 ** Shane Conlan 1987-8 ** LaVar Arrington 2000-2 [↩]
  11. [source] Jack Ham 1990 ** Dennis Onkotz 1995 [↩]
  12. Jack Ham 1988 [↩]