The Sporting News College Football Player of the Year award is given to the player of the year in college football as adjudged by The Sporting News (formerly known as Sporting News from 2002 to 2022).
Winners YearWinnerPositionSchoolSource 1942 Halfback Georgia 1943 Quarterback Notre Dame 1944 Halfback Ohio State 1945 Fullback Army 1946 Halfback Army (2) 1947 Quarterback Notre Dame (2) 1948 Halfback SMU 1949 End Notre Dame (3) 1950 Halfback Ohio State (2) 1951 Halfback Princeton 1952 Halfback Oklahoma1953 Halfback Notre Dame (4) 1954 Halfback Ohio State (3) 1955 (2)HalfbackOhio State (4)1956 Tommy McDonaldHalfbackOklahoma (2)1957 John David CrowHalfbackTexas A&M1958 Billy CannonHalfbackLSU1959Billy Cannon (2)HalfbackLSU (2)1960 Joe BellinoHalfbackNavy1961 Bob FergusonFullbackOhio State (5)1962 Terry BakerQuarterbackOregon State1963 Roger StaubachQuarterbackNavy (2)1964 Dick ButkusCenter / linebackerIllinois1965 Donny AndersonRunning backTexas Tech Jim GrabowskiHalfbackIllinois (2)1966 Steve SpurrierQuarterbackFlorida1967 Gary BebanQuarterback UCLA1968 O. J. SimpsonRunning back USC1969 Steve OwensRunning backOklahoma (3) 1970 Jim PlunkettQuarterbackStanford1971 Ed MarinaroRunning backCornell Pat SullivanQuarterbackAuburn 1972 Bert JonesQuarterbackLSU (3)1973 John HicksGuardOhio State (6)1974 Archie GriffinRunning backOhio State (7)1975Archie Griffin (2)Running backOhio State (8)1976 Tony DorsettRunning backPittsburgh1977 Earl CampbellRunning backTexas1978 Billy SimsRunning backOklahoma (4)1979 Charles WhiteRunning backUSC (2)1980 Hugh GreenLinebackerPittsburgh (2)1981 Marcus AllenRunning backUSC (3)1982Herschel WalkerRunning backGeorgia (2)1983Mike RozierRunning backNebraska1984Doug FlutieQuarterbackBoston College1985Bo JacksonRunning backAuburn (2)1986Vinny TestaverdeQuarterbackMiami (FL)1987Tim BrownWide receiverNotre Dame (5)1988Barry SandersRunning backOklahoma State1989Darian HaganQuarterbackColorado1990Raghib IsmailWide receiverNotre Dame (6)1991Desmond HowardWide receiverMichigan 1992Marvin JonesLinebackerFlorida State1993Charlie WardQuarterbackFlorida State (2)1994Rashaan SalaamRunning backColorado (2)1995Tommie FrazierQuarterbackNebraska (2)1996Danny WuerffelQuarterbackFlorida (2)1997Charles WoodsonCornerbackMichigan (2)1998Ricky WilliamsRunning backTexas (2) 1999Ron DayneRunning backWisconsin2000Chris WeinkeQuarterbackFlorida State (3)2001Eric CrouchQuarterbackNebraska (3)2002Carson PalmerQuarterback USC (4) 2003Jason WhiteQuarterbackOklahoma (5)2004Alex SmithQuarterbackUtah 2005Reggie BushRunning back USC (5)2006Troy SmithQuarterbackOhio State (9) 2007 Quarterback Florida (3) 2008 Quarterback Texas Tech (2) Quarterback Oklahoma (6) Quarterback Texas (3) 2009 Running back Alabama 2010 Quarterback Auburn (3) 2011 Quarterback Baylor 2012 Quarterback Texas A&M (2) 2013 Quarterback Florida State (4) 2014 Quarterback Oregon 2015 Quarterback Oklahoma (7) 2016 Quarterback Louisville 2017 (2)Quarterback Oklahoma (8) 2018 Quarterback Alabama (2) 2019 Quarterback LSU (4) 2020 Wide receiver Alabama (3) 2021 QuarterbackAlabama (4) 2022 Quarterback USC (6) 2023 Quarterback LSU (5) 2024 Cornerback / wide receiver Colorado (3) 2025 Quarterback Vanderbilt
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