Marquess Wilson and Host of PAC-12 WR's Dominate KSI Index

By Ben Johnson - Special to SBNation.com

Marquess Wilson of Washington State University is the best returning receiver in college football according to the KSI Sabermetrics Index Rating. Fellow conference rivals Robert Woods (3rd) and Marquise Lee (9th) of USC also finished in the Top-10 of the WR Index.

Overall, the PAC-12 Conference had three of the Top-5 and five of the Top-18 receivers in the country based on last seasons statistical performance. Keenan Allen of California was fifth, followed by Markus Wheaton of Oregon State University (18th).

Markus Wheaton is related to former Oregon defensive back Kenny Wheaton who kicked started the Oregon resurgence movement with a 95-yard interception return versus hated rival Washington in 1994, which propelled Oregon onward to the Rose Bowl, which has ultimately propelled Oregon onward to where they are today, a perennial Top-5 program.

USC was the only team to have two wide outs in the Top-10, although West Virginia teammates Stedman Bailey (6th) and Tavon Austin (12th) finished just outside the Top-10 as a tandem. Both teams will be among the front-runners to compete for the national championship.

Other programs that had twin top performers at the wide out position included Clemson (Sammy Watkins-7th and Deandre Hopkins-27th), Wake Forest (Chris Givens-4th and Michael Companaro-30th) and Hawaii (Billy Ray Stutzman-29th and Jeremiah Ostrowski-31st).

You may recall my article last week which named USC QB Matt Barkley as the best returning quarterback in the country and a big reason for his statistical dominance is having twin receivers Robert Woods and Marquise Lee to throw to.

With the top ranked quarterback, two of the Top-10 receivers to throw to and two running backs, Silas Redd (formerly of Penn State) and Curtis McNeal, who both finished 12th and 22nd respectively in the KSI Index for Running Backs (which will be announced in the coming days), the Trojan offense presents opponents with a wide range of targets.

The question becomes who do you stop and where do you focus your defense versus the Trojans? My guess would be Barkley first, but blitzing him often could set up potential big explosion plays when leaving defenders out on an island versus Woods and Lee.

Drop defenders back in coverage and Redd and McNeal could run wild. Yes ladies and gentleman, it will be interesting to see if the pollsters want to see a great PAC-12 offense versus a stout SEC defense, or another 9-6, 21-0 bore-cast between two SEC stalwarts.

The PAC-12 and great national championship games go in tandem if you consider USC vs Oklahoma, USC vs Texas or Oregon vs Auburn, not to mention some of the better BCS games involving Stanford vs Oklahoma State, Oregon vs Ohio State or USC vs Michigan.

You nearly always get a great game between a PAC-12 Champion, SEC Champion or Big-12 Champion when matched up for the BCS national championship game.

The Big-12 Conference (6th, 8th, 12th, 20th, 25th & 28th) had the highest number of top performers (6) found within the Top-30 compared to the PAC-12 with five of the Top-30 performers, although the athletes did not finish as high overall as their "Conference of Champion" brethren (1st, 3rd, 5th, 9th & 18th).

Marquess Wilson, a junior, will be a big target within the Mike Leach wide open spread offensive system at Washington State as the program appears to be on the verge of a bowl game for the first time in 8 years. Wilson finished 2nd in total receiving yards (1,388), 2nd in touchdown receptions (12), 4th in yards per catch (16.93) and 2nd in yards per game (115.67).

With 30 KSI Index Points, he edged out junior Nick Harwell of Miami (OH) who led the field of returners last year with 1,425 yards receiving and 129.55 yards per game. Harwell finished with 31 KSI Index Points.