College football's best, by the numbers

Marino was a two-time All-America and finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1982. John Iacono/SI

RELATED • TROCCHI: No. 25 belongs to the Rocket • JACKSON: A vote for Rice at No. 88

The story behind why Dan Marino chose his now-iconic No. 13 is more logistics than legend. "When I was a kid my Daddy (Dan Sr.) coached Little League and every year he would let all the other kids pick their own number," says Marino, now an analyst for CBS Sports and HBO. "Nowadays parents let their own kids pick first but I got whatever was left over. It so happens I was a bigger kid and the 10 to 15 were the numbers that were available. It seemed No. 13 was always there so one day as a kid I just decided, I'm going to make this my number since no one else wants it. That's where it started."

We all know where it ended. When Marino arrived on the campus of Pittsburgh in 1979, just four blocks from the house he grew up in, he asked for No. 13, and spent the next four years building the number's legend. His led the Panthers to four bowl games and finished with 8,597 passing yards and 79 touchdowns. "Never again will another Pitt football player were the No. 13 jersey," announced Pittsburgh athletic director Ed Bozik on Dec. 2, 1982. "It will be retired in our locker room in the same manner as No. 33 (Tony Dorsett) and No. 99 (Hugh Green).

Marino, Dorsett and Green ranked at the top of our list for the best performers in college football at each number from 1 to 99 after a team of our finest numerologists crunched the data. We based our decision on a combination on impact on the game, statistics and team success during the players' years at the school. For research we culled through dozens and dozens of college football media guides, as well as archived stories from the Sports Illustrated library and the College Football Hall of Fame's Web site. Sports information directors and local historians were a huge help, as was a similar list that the former SI writer Dan Jenkins did for the newsletter of the National Football Foundation (Jenkins is the historian for the organization). Ace photo editor David Kaye painstakingly sorted through hundreds of images and built the gallery of the chosen few.

Our easiest choices? Roger Staubach (12), Dorsett (33), Jim Brown (44), Dick Butkus (50) and LeRoy Selmon (93). Numbers that lacked star quality: 29 (Eric Turner), 91 (Doug Atkins) and 96 (Daniel Stubbs). The number worn by the most stars? Earl Campbell, Billy Cannon, Johnny Rogers, Billy Sims, Mike Garrett, Mel Renfro and Bernie Kosar all wore 20.

The toughest calls? Howard "Hopalong" Cassidy over Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch (No. 40) and Archie Griffin over Sammy Baugh (No. 45). Baugh would have been the top choice at nearly every other number but Griffin is the only player to win the Heisman twice and start in a Rose Bowl four times. He gets the nod by the nose of a football. Writers Clinton Jackson and Bill Trocchi offer arguments for Rocket Ismail (25) and Jerry Rice (88) over top choices Tommy McDonald and Keith Jackson.

The history of college football players wearing numbered jerseys dates back exactly 100 years. In 1908 Washington and Jefferson became the first college to number its football uniforms, according to the book Sports Firsts. However, it discontinued the practice the same year. Numbered football uniforms reappeared at the University of Chicago five years later when coach Amos Alonzo Stagg used them for a November 1913 game against Wisconsin. Alas, the practice did not catch on with most major colleges and universities until the 1920s.

In our three photo galleries of the selections, we also listed our runner-up choice and others who were worthy of consideration for the top spot. No doubt you'll disagree with some of our choices and we look forward to reading your arguments on FanNation.

THE BEST COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS EVER TO WEAR ...: Nos. 1-33 | 34-66 | 67-99