Bill Bender

Why do we always set the clock to the 1980s? College football was so much fun in that era. Herschel Walker emerged as a SEC legend at Georgia.

The Sporting News is celebrating its 140th anniversary ahead of the 2026 college football season.

A Heisman Trophy winner from a Service Academy? Welcome to the 1960s, when Roger Staubach led Navy to the Cotton Bowl before becoming a star for the Dallas Cowboys.

The Golden Age of Running Backs was in the 1970s. It was an era of wishbone and flexbone offenses, and ground-and-pound was the preferred offense of the era.

O.J. Simpson, Bubba Smith among the 1960s stars.

The 2000s featured some of the greatest college football games and players of all time. The 2003 Fiesta Bowl between No. 1 Miami and No. 2 Ohio State.

The NCAA career rushing record was broken twice in the 1990s. The "Fun 'n' Gun" took off Florida. ESPN's "College GameDay" had the brilliant idea of taking their pregame show on campus.

Realignment led to seismic changes in college football this decade. The Pac-12 is no longer a power conference.

The 2010s belonged to the SEC, which won six national championships. Auburn, Alabama and LSU's all-time juggernaut in 2019 all took home titles

The second decade of the 2000s belonged to the SEC, which won six national championships.