Good morning, football fans! And Happy New Year! May 2026 bring as much to celebrate with the game of football as 2025 did!

As part of a Sun Bowl tradition that stretches back to the 1990s between CBS and the National Football Foundation, Vanderbilt tight end Eli Stowers has added CBS Sports Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors on top of the William V. Campbell Trophy he earned in December!

In the latest episode of the Good in the Game Podcast, host LaVar Arrington sits down in person with Oregon and Ravens great Haloti Ngata! The guys catch up at the NFF Awards Dinner honoring the College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025, which Haloti joined. Haloti and LaVar discuss the Hall of Fame, how to face adversity and what the game means to him!

📰: College Football TV Ratings: Pop-Tarts Bowl draws 8.7 million viewers as non-CFP viewership increases
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📰: Blaha, Wisconsin-River Falls beats defending champion North Central 24-14 for D-III title
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📰: Brock Spack’s college football legacy secure, building Illinois State into FCS power
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📰: The Pac-12 Comes Back in 2026
^{Front Office Sports}

Roger Balsly, who played collegiately at Cincinnati, has passed away. He was 72.

Isiah Whitlock Jr., who played collegiately at Southwest Minnesota State before starring as an actor in The Wire, among other shows, has passed away. He was 71.

Steven Reeves, who played collegiately at Arkansas State, has passed away. He was 39.

Russell Scales, who played collegiately at East Carolina, has passed away. He was 77.

Bill Ray Barnes, who played collegiately at Wake Forest and led the ACC in receptions in 1955, has passed away. He was 90.

Jim Flanagan, who played collegiately at Pittsburgh and played in the Ice Bowl and Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers, has passed away. He was 80.

Tom Maentz, who played offense, defense and punted for Michigan from 1954-56, has passed away. He was 91.

Jim Dennison, the head coach at Akron from 1973-85 and the athletics director from 1986-93, has passed away.

There are good things happening all over the game of football. The National Football Foundation has asked individuals to share an example of something they see happening within our sport that is good for the game. Here are their answers!

. . .

“Everybody always talks about the players getting the NIL money and buying cars and jewelry, but I see our players [at Texas] giving back. You look at Colin Simmons, he’s setting up non-profits and gives back to his community. I see what they get to use their NIL money on, and it’s not just the cars. It’s their families and their communities.”

— Michael Huff, 2025 NFF College Football Hall of Fame inductee

January 19, 2026 — CFP National Championship at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida

January 29, 2026 — Announcement of the State Winners of the 2025-26 NFF National High School Academic Excellence Awards, Presented by the Rose Bowl Legacy Foundation

February 5, 2026 — Announcement of 2025-26 Recipient of the NFF Hatchell Cup, Presented by Bob’s Steak & Chop House

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