ESPN Names The Oklahoma Sooners As, "Quarterback U"

Trevor Knight's 348 yard/4 touchdown performance against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl is one that will go down as one of the defining moments of his very young career. The sophomore to be seems to have a world of upside as is poised to be the next in what has become a long line of premier college quarterbacks.

How good have the signal callers been in Norman? Good enough that ESPN.com's David Ching dubbed the Sooners as the top quarterback school since the turn of the century.

1. Oklahoma (142 points)

Winning major awards is the most effective way to place your team near the top of these rankings, so Oklahoma's eight awards since 2000 -- including a pair of Heisman Trophies (by Jason White and Sam Bradford) -- helped the Sooners claim the "Quarterback U" label. Other schools might have a better record of placing quarterbacks in the pros, but the Sooners have been one of the nation's most consistent programs in the 2000s thanks in part to solid quarterback play from the likes of White, Bradford, Josh Heupel and Landry Jones. -

David Ching, ESPN.com

The Sooners fared pretty well in the rankings (#4 at O-Line, T8 at receiver, #2 at running back) but it was the quarterback position that shined the brightest. Riding on the success of Heisman quarterbacks Jason White and Sam Bradford, Bob Stoops and company have been able to land the right talent and develop them like no other school and even youth hasn't ever seemed to be an issue. Bradford stepped on the scene as a redshirt freshman in 2007. In 2009 it was Landry Jones breaking Bradford's records as a redshirt freshman, and then Trevor Knight, a redshirt freshman, set New Orleans on fire with his Sugar Bowl performance against Alabama.

People may have their gripes about Josh Heupel and his play calling, but let's not forget that he was the first in line to play quarterback for Stoops in the new era of Sooner football and his tutelage of position at OU can't be questioned.