When the three men's Bowerman finalists were announced back in June, notably missing from the nominations was Akron's Clayton Murphy. Obviously, whenever you have to narrow a list of college track and field's stars to just three there will be deserving athletes who are not picked. However, I believe Clayton Murphy was not only a snubbed of a Bowerman nod but also arguably had one of the greatest college seasons ever for a mid-distance runner.

Murphy's Win Streak:

Murphy raced 22 times (bolded) individually and notched 20 victories to end his college season on an 18-race win streak.

#	Place	Time	Race	Event	Date
01	3rd	8:18.44	3000	Nittany Lion Challenge	01/16/16
02	1st	4:18.78	Mile	Akron vs. Kent State Dual	01/22/16
03	1st	1:51.43	800	Akron vs. Kent State Dual	01/22/16
04	7th	1:48.67	800	Penn State National	01/30/16
05	1st	3:57.11	Mile	Akron Invitational	02/06/16
06	1st	1:46.13	800	Iowa State Classic	02/13/16
07	1st	4:07.19	Mile	MAC Indoor Championships	02/27/16
08	1st	1:48.65	800	MAC Indoor Championships	02/27/16
09	1st	1:46.92	800	DI NCAA Indoor Championships	03/11/16
10	1st	1:46.68	800	DI NCAA Indoor Championships	03/12/16
11	1st	3:44.57	1500	Raleigh Relays	03/25/16
12	1st	1:47.38	800	Texas Relays	03/31/16
13	1st	8:19.09	3000	Akron NE Ohio Quad	04/16/16
14	1st	3:44.21	1500	LSU Alumni Gold	04/23/16
15	1st	1:46.71	800	Drake Relays	04/30/16
16	1st	1:51.22	800	MAC Outdoor Championships	05/13/16
17	1st	3:45.83	1500	MAC Outdoor Championships	05/14/16
18	1st	1:55.39	800	MAC Outdoor Championships	05/14/16
19	1st	3:42.82	1500	DI NCAA East Preliminary Round	05/26/16
20	1st	3:43.43	1500	DI NCAA East Preliminary Round	05/28/16
21	1st	3:49.03	1500	DI NCAA Outdoor Championships	06/08/16
22	1st	3:36.38	1500	DI NCAA Outdoor Championships	06/10/16
23	1st	3:36.23	1500	Portland Track Festival	06/12/16
24	4th	3:41.02	1500	Brooks PR Invitational	06/18/16
25	1st	1:47.61	800	U.S. Olympic Team Trials	07/01/16
26	1st	1:46.97	800	U.S. Olympic Team Trials	07/02/16
27	1st	1:44.76	800	U.S. Olympic Team Trials	07/04/16
28	1st	2:20.12	1000	American Track League	07/23/16
29	4th	1:46.18	800	Olympic Games	08/12/16
30	2nd	1:44.30	800	Olympic Games	08/13/16
31	3rd	1:42.93	800	Olympic Games	08/15/16
32	4th	3:52.30	Mile	5th Avenue Mile	09/03/16
33	7th	1:45.15	800	Brussels Diamond League	09/09/16

Murphy's 800/1500 NCAA Double:

Murphy is one of just three men's runners to win the 800m indoor title and the 1500m outdoor title in the same year, joining Bowling Green's Dave Wottle and Illinois' Marko Koers.

Murphy Won Fast:

Murphy joined Oregon's Joaquim Cruz as the only men's runners to have top 10 championship performances in both the 800m and 1500/mile.

Event	Rank	Athlete	School	Time	Date
Indoor 800m	01	Patrick NDUWIMANA	Arizona	1:45.33	03/10/01
Indoor 800m	02	Einars TUPURITIS	Wichita State	1:45.80	03/09/96
Indoor 800m	03	Derrick PETERSON	Missouri	1:45.88	03/06/99
Indoor 800m	04	Dirk HEINZE	Arkansas	1:45.95	03/10/01
Indoor 800m	05	Edward KEMBOI	Iowa State	1:46.05	03/14/15
Indoor 800m	06	Trinity GRAY	Brown	1:46.05	03/06/99
Indoor 800m	07	Otukile LEKOTE	South Carolina	1:46.13	03/10/01
Indoor 800m	08	George KERSH	Mississippi	1:46.19	03/09/91
Indoor 800m	09	Jess STRUTZEL	UCLA	1:46.48	03/06/99
Indoor 800m	10	Clayton MURPHY	Akron	1:46.68	03/12/16
Indoor Mile	01	Lawi LALANG	Arizona	3:54.74	03/09/13
Indoor Mile	02	Ryan HILL	NC State	3:55.25	03/09/13
Indoor Mile	03	Kevin SULLIVAN	Michigan	3:55.33	03/11/95
Indoor Mile	04	Bernard LAGAT	Washington State	3:55.65	03/06/99
Indoor Mile	05	Graham HOOD	Arkansas	3:55.72	03/11/95
Indoor Mile	06	Bryan BERRYHILL	Colorado State	3:56.73	03/06/99
Indoor Mile	07	Seneca LASSITER	Arkansas	3:57.22	03/06/99
Indoor Mile	08	Suleiman NYAMBUI	UTEP	3:57.89	03/10/79
Indoor Mile	09	Austin MUDD	Wisconsin	3:57.93	03/09/13
Indoor Mile	10	Edward CHESEREK	Oregon	3:57.94	03/14/15
Indoor Mile	10	Cristian SORATOS	Montana State	3:57.94q	03/13/15
Outdoor 1500m	01	Sydney MAREE	Villanova	3:35.30	06/06/81
Outdoor 1500m	02	Abdi BILE	George Mason	3:35.79	06/06/87
Outdoor 1500m	03	Clayton MURPHY	Akron	3:36.38	06/10/16
Outdoor 1500m	04	Joaquim CRUZ	Oregon	3:36.48	06/02/84
Outdoor 1500m	05	Eamonn COGHLAN	Villanova	3:37.01	06/05/76
Outdoor 1500m	06	Bryan BERRYHILL	Colorado State	3:37.05	06/02/01
Outdoor 1500m	07	Lopez LOMONG	Northern Arizona	3:37.07	06/09/07
Outdoor 1500m	08	Leo MANZANO	Texas	3:37.13	06/11/05
Outdoor 1500m	09	Wilson WAIGWA	UTEP	3:37.26	06/05/76
Outdoor 1500m	10	Matt CENTROWITZ	Oregon	3:37.29	06/05/76
Outdoor 800m	01	Donavan BRAZIER	Texas A&M	1:43.55	06/10/16
Outdoor 800m	02	Brandon McBRIDE	Mississippi State	1:44.50	06/10/16
Outdoor 800m	03	Mark EVERETT	Florida	1:44.70	06/01/90
Outdoor 800m	04	Robby ANDREWS	Virginia	1:44.71	06/10/11
Outdoor 800m	05	Dmitrijs MILKEVICS	Nebraska	1:44.74	06/11/05
Outdoor 800m	06	Charles JOCK	UC Irvine	1:44.75	06/10/11
Outdoor 800m	07	Joaquim CRUZ	Oregon	1:44.91	06/03/83
Outdoor 800m	08	Kevin HICKS	Florida A&M	1:44.94	06/11/05
Outdoor 800m	09	Elijah GREER	Oregon	1:45.06	06/10/11
Outdoor 800m	10	Patrick NDUWIMANA	Arizona	1:45.08	06/02/00

Now obviously, we all know what Murphy achieved after the NCAA season, winning the U.S. Olympic Trials 800m and capturing bronze at the Olympic Games. While these achievements are incredible, unfortunately they don't count toward his collegiate resume. But still, his 2016 season was insane! Check out the list of men with lifetime PBs better than Murphy's.

800m	1500m	Country	Athlete
1:41.73	3:29.77	GBR	Sebastian Coe
1:41.77	3:34.63	BRA	Joaquim Cruz
1:42.23	3:31.76	SUD	Abubaker Kaki
1:42.61	3:28.75	ALG	Taoufik Makhloufi
1:42.67	3:33.68	KEN	Alfred Kirwa Yego
1:42.69	3:34.14	KEN	Japheth Kimutai
1:42.79	3:31.56	BRN	Youssef Saad Kamel
1:42.88	3:29.67	GBR	Steve Cram
1:42.91	3:34.12	KEN	William Yiampoy
1:42.93	3:36.23	USA	Clayton Murphy

​Watch Murphy win the NCAA indoor 800m: