Sporting News College Football Player of the Year
The Sporting News College Football Player of the Year award is given to the player of the year in college football as adjudged by Sporting News.Winners
Oklahoma and Ohio State hold the record for most awards, with each school having won eight times.
| Year | Winner | School |
| 1942 | | Georgia |
| 1943 | | Notre Dame |
| 1944 | | Ohio State |
| 1945 | | Army |
| 1946 | | Army |
| 1947 | | Notre Dame |
| 1948 | | SMU |
| 1949 | | Notre Dame |
| 1950 | | Ohio State |
| 1951 | | Princeton |
| 1952 | | Oklahoma |
| 1953 | | Notre Dame |
| 1954 | | Ohio State |
| 1955 | | Ohio State |
| 1956 | Tommy McDonald | Oklahoma |
| 1957 | John David Crow | Texas A&M |
| 1958 | Billy Cannon | LSU |
| 1959 | Billy Cannon | LSU |
| 1960 | Joe Bellino | Navy |
| 1961 | Bob Ferguson | Ohio State |
| 1962 | Terry Baker | Oregon State |
| 1963 | Roger Staubach | Navy |
| 1964 | Dick Butkus | Illinois |
| 1965 | Donny Anderson | Texas Tech |
| 1965 | Jim Grabowski | Illinois |
| 1966 | Steve Spurrier | Florida |
| 1967 | Gary Beban | UCLA |
| 1968 | O.J. Simpson | USC |
| 1969 | Steve Owens | Oklahoma |
| 1970 | Jim Plunkett | Stanford |
| 1971 | Ed Marinaro | Cornell |
| 1971 | Pat Sullivan | Auburn |
| 1972 | Bert Jones | LSU |
| 1973 | John Hicks | Ohio State |
| 1974 | Archie Griffin | Ohio State |
| 1975 | Archie Griffin | Ohio State |
| 1976 | Tony Dorsett | Pittsburgh |
| 1977 | Earl Campbell | Texas |
| 1978 | Billy Sims | Oklahoma |
| 1979 | Charles White | USC |
| 1980 | Hugh Green | Pittsburgh |
| 1981 | Marcus Allen | USC |
| 1982 | Herschel Walker | Georgia |
| 1983 | Mike Rozier | Nebraska |
| 1984 | Doug Flutie | Boston College |
| 1985 | Bo Jackson | Auburn |
| 1986 | Vinny Testaverde | Miami |
| 1987 | Tim Brown | Notre Dame |
| 1988 | Barry Sanders | Oklahoma State |
| 1989 | Darian Hagan | Colorado |
| 1990 | Raghib Ismail | Notre Dame |
| 1991 | Desmond Howard | Michigan |
| 1992 | Marvin Jones | Florida State |
| 1993 | Charlie Ward | Florida State |
| 1994 | Rashaan Salaam | Colorado |
| 1995 | Tommy Frazier | Nebraska |
| 1996 | Danny Wuerffel | Florida |
| 1997 | Charles Woodson | Michigan |
| 1998 | Ricky Williams | Texas |
| 1999 | Ron Dayne | Wisconsin |
| 2000 | Chris Weinke | Florida State |
| 2001 | Eric Crouch | Nebraska |
| 2002 | Carson Palmer | USC |
| 2003 | Jason White | Oklahoma |
| 2004 | Alex Smith | Utah |
| 2005 | Reggie Bush | USC |
| 2006 | Troy Smith | Ohio State |
| 2007 | | Florida |
| 2008 | | Texas Tech |
| 2008 | | Oklahoma |
| 2008 | | Texas |
| 2009 | | Alabama |
| 2010 | | Auburn |
| 2011 | | Baylor |
| 2012 | | Texas A&M |
| 2013 | | Florida State |
| 2014 | | Oregon |
| 2015 | | Oklahoma |
| 2016 | | Louisville |
| 2017 | | Oklahoma |
| 2018 | | Alabama |
| 2019 | | LSU |
