How NASCAR returned to North Wilkesboro after 26 years of ruin
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Ryan McGee, ESPN Senior Writer
Nine-thousand, seven-hundred and thirty-one days.
When the NASCAR All-Star Race drops the green flag on Sunday evening, that’s how long it will have been since the cars of its premiere division, the Cup Series, raced for cash and prizes at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Three-hundred nineteen months and 23 days.
That’s so many calendar pages ripped off and thrown away that the 25-year-old kid who won that last race, Jeff Gordon, victor of the Tyson Holly Farms 400 of Sept. 29, 1996, is now seven years into retirement and vice chairman of the team he was driving for when he held off Dale Earnhardt for the 19th of his eventual 93 victories.
Twenty-six years, seven months and 23 days.
So long ago that 34 of the 37 drivers in the field with Gordon on that day are all retired from Cup Series racing. The other three are no longer with us. Neither are a huge chunk of the sponsors that were on track that day, from Hayes Modems to PrimeStar. So long ago that seven of the drivers entered in this weekend’s event weren’t yet born and at least that many were still in diapers.
Two-hundred thirty-three-thousand, five-hundred forty-four hours. That’s 14,012,640 minutes or 840,758,400 seconds, or, in North Wilkesboro Speedway stopwatch time, roughly 45,446,400 laps run.
No American sports venue has ever hosted a big league team or series, been offline for this long and then had that team or series return. Sure, RFK Stadium lost the Washington Senators in 1971 and MLB didn’t return with the Nationals until 2005, but those 34 years were occupied by no less than eight other franchises, from the NFL to the NASL. And yes, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was closed during World War II, but that was for only four years.
For the vast majority of 1,390 weeks, the North Wilkesboro Speedway was shuttered. Padlocked. Draped with “No Trespassing” signs. As its grandstands rusted, roofs collapsed and fences were devoured by vines, any other building in its condition would have been condemned long ago. But no one in Wilkes County, North Carolina, with that kind of authority could bring themselves to do it. To put the misshapen .625-mile bullring out of its misery, because pulling that plug would have been like pulling the aorta from their hearts.
“I give the people of that area a lot of credit, because they never gave up hope that the place might come alive again,” says Marcus Smith, CEO of Speedway Motorsports and now a bona fide Wilkes County hero, despite being begat from the most hated man in these moonshine-soaked parts to never wear a revenuer’s badge. “No matter how far-fetched the idea of returning might have felt, no matter how far away actually running a NASCAR Cup Series event seemed, they never gave up hope. And now here we are.”
Just how far away did it get? Depending on who you ask and where along that 9,731-day timeline one looks, North Wilkesboro’s rock bottom is a matter of personal perspective.
BP’s dream
For Terri Parsons, the furthest away this Sunday ever felt was August 2011. I know because I ran into her, accidentally, in a Wilkesboro, North Carolina, hotel lobby. I had stopped there in the middle of the night, too tired to make it all the way down the mountain home to Charlotte after covering a night race at Bristol Motor Speedway. I hit the lobby looking for breakfast and there was my friend Terri, widow of NASCAR Hall of Famer Benny Parsons, my former ESPN coworker and mentor.
Parsons died of lung cancer in January 2007, only weeks before the completion of Rendezvous Ridge, a winery, event venue and homeplace they had together built in the hills where Benny grew up, just a few hollers over from the racetrack. It was part of BP’s grand plan to resurrect the area and, eventually, the racetrack where he had grown up watching his stock car racing heroes before spending his entire adult life racing and broadcasting at that same bullring, including the final race in ’96.
“All I know to do is try and help the people who helped me,” Parsons told me the one time I paid a visit to Rendezvous Ridge amid its construction. “It hurts my heart every single time I drive by that racetrack.”
It had indeed hurt my heart when I drove by it on Highway 421, coming and going to Bristol via the Benny Parsons Highway that very weekend. Only three months earlier, I had stood on the frontstretch doing live TV, interviewing a man named Alton McBride, who was part of a group of racing promoters who managed to kill enough frontstretch weeds and convince enough local leaders to allow them to run a full slate of Labor Day weekend races in 2010, including an event won by a 14-year-old kid named Chase Elliott.
The plan was to do it all again the following two years and perhaps beyond, but funding that had been promised never materialized and McBride was gone weeks later. North Wilkesboro Speedway was chained up once again.
That same summer Rendezvous Ridge was struck by lightning twice during a wedding rehearsal dinner and burned to the ground. That’s why Terri Parsons was in the hotel lobby with me that morning. She was living there.
“I carry around a handwritten list of goals that Benny had, that he gave me, and reopening the racetrack is at the top the list,” she told me that morning over bad hotel coffee, robe and all. She walked me through the failure of McBride’s efforts. She talked about the valiant efforts of the Save the Speedway foundation. We smiled as we recalled her “Moonshiners & Revenuers” reunions that had bootlegging legends sitting on rocking chairs and telling tall tales alongside Junior Johnson and even NASCAR president Mike Helton.
I am digging through all my old North Wilkesboro files and just found this. The Moonshiners & Revenuers Reunion from 2010, held at Benny Parsons’ place in Wilkes County. Yes, that’s Junior Johnson doing donuts in a 1940 Ford. Shot it on my FlipCam! #NASCAR75 pic.twitter.com/CPBaNHHjb3
— Ryan McGee (@ESPNMcGee) May 17, 2023
She still beamed with pride when talking about her 2010 convincing of Richard Childress to bring Kevin Harvick to the abandoned track for a test run. After turning laps on a surface that took 800 gallons of Roundup to clear of weeds, Harvick exclaimed, shocked, “Do not touch this racetrack! It’s perfect.” Then she rattled off a list of all the ideas, schemes and plans that had been brought to her since Benny’s death.
“So much momentum was happening and then, poof, it’s gone,” she said. “Everyone around here has become very jaded, and you can’t blame them. Everyone who has ever gotten their hopes up has either lied to them or disappeared. You should have been at the county commissioners meeting when Bruton Smith stormed out.”
Oh yeah, Bruton Smith …
Returning to the Earth
The way most people want to remember it now is that the furthest away this Sunday ever got was on the very day of that last Cup race in 1996. Gordon’s win came in North Wilkesboro Speedway’s 93rd Strictly Stock/Grand National/Winston Cup Series event, going all the way back to when it hosted the finale of that series’ inaugural season on Oct. 16, 1949.
The reality for those who were there that day was a little different.
“Honestly, I think when we left that day, we all truly believed we’d be back sooner than later,” remembers Danny Lawrence, then an engine tuner at Richard Childress Racing and longtime member of Dale Earnhardt’s famed “Flying Aces” pit crew. “That was an era when NASCAR was growing so fast and it was chasing dollars all over the country, in places like Vegas and Texas and California, so it was inevitable that Wilkesboro would lose races. But the idea of it never coming back there, that just didn’t seem possible. But then the years kept ticking by, didn’t they?”
To understand what happened to the racetrack you have to understand the context of Lawrence’s remembrance. In 1994 there were 18 racetracks on the Winston Cup Series schedule, sharing 31 race dates. Only two of those tracks were located outside the eastern time zone and seven facilities hosting 14 races were essentially in the same neighborhood, a three-state triangle stretching from Darlington, South Carolina, north to Richmond, Virginia, and east to Bristol, Tennessee.
By 2001, that portfolio had expanded to 23 racetracks spread out from coast to coast, including six new speedways. The owner of six of those 23 tracks was Bruton Smith, a longtime thorn in NASCAR’s side but a billionaire who was also responsible for fueling a large part of the sport’s ridiculous momentum as it entered the new millennium.
As stock car racing exploded its way toward that shift in corporate culture, North Wilkesboro was becoming the old man’s house from the movie “Up” — a quaint, outdated little house surrounded by rising glass skyscrapers. With a finite number of covered Cup Series races available, track owners started snooping around to buy older facilities, not for the tracks themselves but for the dates that came with them.
On Jan. 23, 1995, a man named Enoch Staley died at the age of 77, following a massive stroke. Staley was the man who built North Wilkesboro Speedway in 1947. He was a son of Wilkes County and a businessman who saw an opportunity in constructing a speedway where brother Gwyn and others who’d piloted souped-up machines for running ‘shine in the nearby hills could come and see once and for all who had the fastest revenuer-outrunning rides. His co-investor was one of those bootleggers, Charlie Combs, whose brother Jack Combs would eventually take over as track co-owner. They had enough cash to plow a dirt oval on Combs’ land just east of town, but not enough to even it out, thus the downhill frontstretch and uphill backstretch that will still befuddle racers this weekend just as it did in ’47.
Staley became a confidant to NASCAR founder Bill France and later Bill France Jr. As long as those ties existed, North Wilkesboro Speedway felt safe. The moment Staley died, in the words of son Mike, “The buzzards came swooping in.”
Days after Staley’s death, Bruton Smith knocked on the Combses’ front door and offered Jack $6 million. Jack Combs, knowing he had no shot holding off the new NASCAR futurist machine, sold. Mike Staley says that Smith immediately showed up at his office to announce that he was their new business partner, like it or not. Knowing that Smith was going to take one of North Wilkesboro’s races and send it west to his sparkling new $250 million Texas Motor Speedway, Staley courted another track owner in need of a Cup race, New Hampshire Motor Speedway owner Bob Bahre, who bought the Staley half of the track for $8 million.
Smith, who never needed much encouragement to hold a grudge, was livid. In Wilkes County, he was already so despised among the locals that he was told by police not to attend the track’s final race in ’96 because they would not be able to guarantee his safety. But instead of working to repair his image among the people of North Wilkesboro, he went full downhome Darth Vader. By 2007, he had purchased Bahre’s racetrack business and held full ownership of their little mountain racetrack.
For the next two decades, whenever he was asked about the possibility of reopening the little racetrack in the mountains, he scoffed. He joked. He made fun. When he did seem to flirt with the idea, talking with potential buyers, investors or local government officials, he also seemed to take joy in pulling the rug out from underneath them.
It was Bruton Smith who famously said when asked for an update on the status of North Wilkesboro Speedway, “I suppose it’s returning to the earth.”
That was late summer 2009. Racing at North Wilkesboro Speedway certainly seemed a long way away after that.
A toilet problem
The furthest this Sunday night ever felt for me personally was a decade earlier, on a rainy December day in 1999. I was riding in the jump seat of a too-tight pickup truck cab. The rear window had a leak in the seal and there was cold water dripping down the back of my neck. But I didn’t care. Because the man riding shotgun right in front of me was Tom Higgins, aka the greatest NASCAR beat writer who ever lived. And the man driving the truck was Junior Johnson, aka The Last American Hero.
I was with “Pap” and Junior working on a TV story about Johnson’s upcoming book, co-authored by Higgins and Steve Waid. We’d shot an interview at Junior’s house that morning, where he had handed me a Mason jar of cherry-infused moonshine (“The real stuff,” he grumbled. “So be careful with it”). We had ridden into Wilkesboro and had lunch at Harold’s Restaurant, owned by Harold Call, he of the shine-running Calls. Harold sat with us for a little while, and when the topic turned to the racetrack, he pointed to a wall over a booth and a framed photo of two huge, nasty hogs.
“We call one of them Bob Bahre and we call the other one Bruton,” Call said. We all laughed. Call did not.
Inspired by the conversation, Johnson announced that we were going to the racetrack. The place where he had first fallen in love with racing.
He told the story about his first start behind the wheel. He was 17 and plowing the cornfield at home in Ingle Hollow, a crossroads about 10 miles from the spot where Enoch Staley and Jack Combs had built their new speedway. It was summer 1949, the track was preparing to host NASCAR’s new Strictly Stock series. Way more people had showed up than expected, so Staley needed drivers to stage a series of preliminary races he’d just added to the schedule. Johnson parked his plow mule, ran up to the house to get some shoes (yes, he was barefoot) and that afternoon he finished second in his very first race. The winner was Gwyn Staley.
As Johnson told us the story 50 years later, the Winston-red brick building over North Wilkesboro Speedway’s first turn rose into view. After only three years of sitting empty, it already looked awful.
Johnson said, “I don’t think many people have been out there since that race. I know I haven’t. I didn’t go to the last race. I couldn’t make myself do it. The Staleys didn’t go. The Combs didn’t go, and hell, they lived on the property. It’d just been too sad for them and for me.”
We stopped by another next door house, occupied by another member of the Call family, Paul, and got the key to unlock the gate. We walked into the infield and into the driver’s lounge. It was like a time capsule. Scorecards still sat on the desk. The blue and brown country print couches were still something right out of someone’s grandmother’s living room. The hydraulic lift that carried Jeff Gordon’s car from the ground to the rooftop Victory Lane still worked, but little else did.
The grandstands were rotting. The windows of the press box were smashed. And there was a smell.
“That’s the plumbing,” Johnson explained. “It didn’t work worth a damn in ’96, so you know it don’t work now. That alone is why it’s going to be hard to ever open this up again. Inspectors around here looked the other way for so long, they can’t do that now. This place has got a toilet problem.”
Johnson slapped Higgins on the shoulder. “Let’s get out of here. This is making me sadder than hell. They ain’t ever opening this up again.”
Just how far away did it get?
Over the next 20 years, every single time I saw Johnson, he’d repeat that line to me again. He said it to me after he took his son Robert there to run some test laps in 2010. He said it to me at those Moonshiners & Revenuers Reunions. He even said to me at Disney-Pixar HQ, when I was chatting with him about his role in “Cars 3,” in which he plays Junior “Midnight” Moon. During production he’d even had the director and animators over to his house and took them out to the racetrack so they could sketch and take notes. When director Brian Fee asked if the place might be reopened, Johnson told them what he always told me.
“That place has got a toilet problem.” Then he added, “To fix that racetrack up it’s going to take someone with a lot money, a lot of guts and maybe not a lot of common sense.”
Enter Marcus Smith.
“Yeah,” the 50-year-old CEO confesses after hearing that quote, laughing. “I guess that’s pretty much me, isn’t it?”
As the 2010s neared their end, Marcus Smith transitioned into the leadership position at Speedway Motorsports. He is smart like his father, but he is also much easier to navigate in a boardroom. All the Smith business sense without Bruton’s emotional baggage. Among those who called on the more approachable new boss was Terri Parsons. That was in 2018. When silence followed over the next two years, the good people of Wilkes County assumed it was just another verse of the same sad, silent song.
Then came 2020, when a pandemic-forced change of mindset opened the door for NASCAR to be more creative with its scheduling, and a surge in online gaming opened the door for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the designers at iRacing to clean up the track and digitally scan it. Then came March 2021, when Marcus Smith said on Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s podcast that he wanted to talk about North Wilkesboro Speedway. Then North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper allocated money to refurbish racetracks throughout the state, which Smith used to start paving and lighting. Then Smith looked at laying dirt on the track … then was talked out of it … then floated the idea of maybe, possibly a NASCAR Trucks race to Lesa France Kennedy … who jumped at the idea … and Trucks became Cup, which became the All-Star Race and … well …
So far away suddenly became not far away at all. Now 9,731 days are about to tick down to zero.
Terri Parsons will be there. So will the Staleys. So will the Combs, finally ready to make that walk across the field, this week to watch one of their own, Dylan Wilson, great-grandson of Jack Combs, race his Late Model machine against Dale Junior. So will so many Calls, along with hundreds of other Wilkes County residents who swore they’d never come back until the Cup cars came back.
Junior Johnson won’t be there. He died December 2020. Benny Parsons won’t be there, either, gone for more than 16 years. But just last week, both had newly refurbished grandstands named in their honor. Bruton Smith will also not be among the expected crowd of 25,000. He died one year ago at the age of 95, believed to be the oldest-ever Fortune 500 CEO.
“I think as someone who loves the history of this sport, I love the places where you can feel the presence of those who came before you, who built these places and NASCAR as whole,” Marcus Smith says, beaming. “That past isn’t perfect, but that builds character. It’s just like that racetrack itself. North Wilkesboro Speedway is far from perfect. It’s never been perfect. But man, there is so much character.”
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Max Olson
Ole Miss linebacker Suntarine Perkins, defensive tackle Will Echoles, center Brycen Sanders and defensive back Antonio Kite have committed to returning in 2026, the school announced Thursday.
All four starters have signed deals with the school to return under new coach Pete Golding next year, a source told ESPN, ahead of the Rebels’ first-ever College Football Playoff game.
The Rebels are working to retain their key returning players amid former coach Lane Kiffin’s move to LSU and the impending opening of the transfer portal window on Jan. 2. Kiffin is taking several assistant coaches and staffers with him to Baton Rouge.
Echoles earned second-team All-SEC honors and leads all Power 4 defensive tackles with 26 pressures this season, according to ESPN Research. Perkins was a third-team All-SEC selection in 2024 after recording a team-high 10.5 sacks.
The Rebels are also attempting to bring back star running back Kewan Lacy, the SEC’s second-leading rusher, and starting quarterback Trinidad Chambliss has said he’ll weigh his options if he receives an NCAA waiver for an additional season of eligibility.
Kiffin left for SEC rival LSU on Nov. 30 and will not coach Ole Miss in the CFP. Golding, the Rebels’ defensive coordinator for the past three years, was promoted to permanent head coach.
The No. 6 seed Rebels host No. 11 Tulane on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, TNT/HBO Max/truTV) in their first-round game, a rematch of a nonconference meeting the Rebels won 45-10 on Sept. 20.
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Mark Schlabach
Quarterback Beau Pribula is on the move again.
Pribula, who spent this season at Missouri after transferring from Penn State, has informed the Tigers’ coaching staff that he plans to enter the transfer portal, sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday.
Pribula doesn’t plan to play for the Tigers (8-4) when they take on No. 19 Virginia (10-3) in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on Dec. 27 (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC), sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
Pribula, a senior from York, Pennsylvania, helped the Tigers to a 6-1 start this season, with the only loss coming against then-No. 8 Alabama. But then he was hurt early in the third quarter of a 17-10 loss at Vanderbilt on Oct. 25. His left ankle was placed in an air cast and trainers carted him off the field.
Doctors determined that Pribula dislocated the ankle but didn’t fracture it. He missed two games before returning to play in a 17-6 loss at then-No. 8 Oklahoma. He also played in the Tigers’ 31-17 win at Arkansas in Missouri’s regular-season finale.
In 10 games, Pribula completed 67.4% of his passes for 1,941 yards with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also ran for 297 yards with six scores.
Pribula battled Sam Horn for the starting job in training camp, and both quarterbacks were expected to play in the opener. Horn, however, suffered a fractured right leg on his first play of the game in a 61-6 win against FCS program Central Arkansas and missed the rest of the season.
Freshman Matt Zollers ran the offense when Horn and Pribula were sidelined, and coach Eli Drinkwitz said Thursday that Zollers will start in the Gator Bowl.
Pribula, who was ranked the No. 8 dual-threat quarterback in the class of 2022 by ESPN, spent his first two seasons at Penn State. He left the Nittany Lions before their CFP first-round game in December 2024 after starter Drew Allar announced he was returning in 2025.
CBS Sports first reported Pribula’s intention to transfer.
Skim through the Heisman Trophy voting, and seven of the top 10 players will be on the field in this year’s College Football Playoff. Our apologies to Jeremiyah Love, whom we’d love to see there, too, but that’s an issue for Notre Dame and the ACC to work out.
But that list only scratches the surface of the depth of talent that will be showcased in this year’s playoff. From Ohio State‘s wealth of riches to James Madison’s band of upstarts, the 12 teams that made this year’s playoff are loaded with future NFL draft picks, college stars and under-the-radar gems just waiting to become household names on the sport’s biggest stage.
Before the games kicked off, ESPN’s panel of experts (Bill Connelly, David Hale, Max Olson and Adam Rittenberg) attempted to whittle down those 12 rosters to provide the definitive ranking of the 50 best players in this year’s playoff. It was no easy task. We’ve left off a bevy of names that we’ll no doubt come to regret — Georgia’s KJ Bolden, Oregon‘s Bear Alexander and Alabama‘s Germie Bernard and Kadyn Proctor — but that’s only another reminder of just how much star power will be on display in the coming weeks.
The criteria for our list is much like the process used by the College Football Playoff committee, insofar as we mostly made it up as we went. But the bigger point here was to identify not only the players who put up the best numbers during the regular season or the biggest names on the teams most likely to make a deep run, but to find the best players, the ones who’ll have a chance to have postseason star turns the way Will Howard, Cam Skattebo and Jack Sawyer did in 2024.
So, who will be this year’s most impactful playoff performers? The list starts here. — David Hale
OG, Tulane, redshirt junior
2025 notable stats: 849 snaps, 2 pressures, 0 sacks allowed
2025 preseason ranking: NR
The 6-foot-2, 293-pound big man has developed into a three-year starter at left guard for the Green Wave and has earned first-team All-American Conference honors in back-to-back seasons. Veteran leaders such as Hurst are a big reason why this squad was able to reload for 2025 after losing top players to the portal and pull off an 11-win season and a run to the CFP. — Max Olson
WR, Oklahoma, redshirt junior
2025 notable stats: 65 rec, 948 rec yards, 7 TDs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
The Arkansas transfer who emerged as a No. 1 receiver and All-SEC performer has been a massive development for helping Oklahoma overcome its recent offensive struggles. Sategna’s explosive touchdowns in close wins over Missouri and LSU played a big part in helping secure the Sooners’ CFP bid, and his 1,273 all-purpose yards were second most among all SEC wideouts. — Olson
QB, James Madison, redshirt junior
2025 notable stats: 2,533 yards, 21 TDs, 61.2 QBR
2025 preseason ranking: NR
The Sun Belt Player of the Year has enjoyed a terrific two-year run as the Dukes’ starter with 6,117 total yards, 68 touchdowns, just 12 interceptions and a 20-5 record. He led his squad on an undefeated run through Sun Belt play with eight wins by double-digit margins and surpassed 300 total yards in five games, including a 448-yard performance against Old Dominion. — Olson
LB, Indiana, senior
2025 notable stats: 35 solo tackles, 7 TFLs, 2 INTs
2025 preseason ranking: 77
Fisher, a three-year starter, was a first-team All-American in his debut season with the Hoosiers after transferring from James Madison and had another highly productive year as a key leader for the No. 2 scoring defense in FBS. The 6-foot-1, 231-pound senior had a season-high 13 stops in the Hoosiers’ pivotal road win at Oregon and opened their victory over UCLA with a pick-six. — Olson
QB, Miami, redshirt senior
2025 notable stats: 3,072 yards, 25 TDs, 80.5 QBR
2025 preseason ranking: 29
Beck bypassed the NFL draft for a sixth year in college and one more chance to make a deep CFP run with the Hurricanes. He returned from an elbow injury and in form this season with the second-best completion percentage in FBS and the top QBR in the ACC. Beck led four wins over AP top-25 opponents and has boosted his career record as a starter to 34-5. — Olson
QB, Texas A&M, redshirt sophomore
2025 notable stats: 2,932 yards, 25 TDs, 77.8 QBR
2025 preseason ranking: NR
After taking over as Texas A&M’s starter during the 2024 season, Reed took a big step forward in his third year with nearly 3,400 total yards and a top-five QBR in the SEC (77.8). He had what it took to lead the Aggies to a last-minute road victory at Notre Dame and a 27-point comeback against South Carolina on their way to an 11-0 start. When he gets hot, few dual-threat quarterbacks are more fun to watch. — Olson
OT, Ohio State, redshirt junior
2025 notable stats: 759 snaps, 0 sacks allowed
2025 preseason ranking: NR
After earning six starts at left guard last season for the national champions, Siereveld moved to left tackle and proved he could be among the Big Ten’s best, earning second-team all-conference honors from the league’s coaches. Siereveld and his fellow starters up front kept quarterback Julian Sayin protected throughout his run to becoming a Heisman finalist, with only 11 sacks allowed through 13 games. — Olson
DL, Oklahoma, senior
2025 notable stats: 21 pressures, 6.5 sacks, 9.5 TFLs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
Thomas has played in only nine games, yet still earned first-team All-SEC honors from the conference’s coaches. He has been that impressive as a pass rusher and logged all 6.5 of his sacks in SEC play for a Sooners defense that’s leading the country in TFLs and sacks. Thomas sat out most of November because of a quad injury and is working to try to get back on the field for the CFP. — Olson
LB, Alabama, redshirt senior
2025 notable stats: 75 tackles, 37 solo, 3 TFLs
2025 preseason ranking: 27
Lawson put in the work to come back from a torn ACL sustained late in the 2024 season and again played at an All-SEC level for the Crimson Tide as a senior. The two-time team captain delivered two of the biggest plays of the season for Alabama’s defense with his fourth-quarter strip against South Carolina and his fumble recovery against Auburn to clinch close victories. — Olson
QB, Alabama, redshirt junior
2025 notable stats: 3,268 yards, 26 TDs, 76.7 QBR
2025 preseason ranking: NR
Simpson did what QBs rarely do these days in waiting until Year 4 to become a starting QB. He proved he can perform under pressure in leading a run of four consecutive victories over ranked SEC foes to kick off conference play, and he went on to earn second-team All-SEC honors from the conference’s coaches. — Olson
DL, James Madison, redshirt freshman
2025 notable stats: 16 solo tackles, 7 sacks, 1 FF
2025 preseason ranking: NR
West put together a remarkable redshirt freshman season at JMU after logging only seven snaps a season ago. The 6-foot-4, 270-pound defensive end earned Sun Belt Freshman of the Year honors this season and currently ranks second in the conference in TFLs and third in sacks. He brought his best in the Sun Belt title game with nine pressures and three sacks in a 31-14 victory over Troy. — Olson
DT, Oregon, junior
2025 notable stats: 4 TFLs, 29 total tackles, 6 PBUs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
He fortified Oregon’s defensive line in his first season as a starter, earning third-team All-Big Ten honors and contributing 29 tackles, four for loss, with five quarterback hurries and six pass breakups. Washington helped the Ducks rise to No. 9 nationally in points allowed. Oregon ranked 20th nationally against the run. — Adam Rittenberg
DT, Ole Miss, sophomore
2025 notable stats: 55 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 8 TFLs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
The 310-pound sophomore from Houston, Mississippi, was one of the stars of Ole Miss’ 2024 recruiting class, and he has enjoyed a breakout campaign as a first-time starter. He has made 45 of his 55 tackles against the run — five of his 11 run stops (tackles at or behind the line) came in tight midseason wins over LSU and Washington State — but he has also had 4.5 sacks. — Bill Connelly
OLB, Texas Tech, senior
2025 notable stats: 47 tackles, 9 sacks, 46 pressures
2025 preseason ranking: NR
Playing for his fourth school in five years, Height has been the perfect foil for any offense that tries to focus too much attention on David Bailey. The 24-year-old pass-rush specialist has nine sacks and an elite 18.4% pressure rate, and he has been remarkably consistent all season: He has recorded at least three pressures in 12 of 13 games, with at least a half-sack in eight. — Connelly
RB, James Madison, junior
2025 notable stats: 190 carries, 1,263 yards, 10 total TDs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
The 5-foot-7, 190-pounder has evolved into the most important player on the JMU offense. He has produced at least 85 yards from scrimmage in 12 of 13 games and produced 223 in the Sun Belt championship game win over Troy. He only grows more effective over time, too: He averages a strong 6.8 yards per touch in the first three quarters and an incredible 9.7 in the fourth. — Connelly
OLB, Oregon, junior
2025 notable stats: 61 tackles, 13 TFLs, 2 FFs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
The former blue-chipper was a contributor from almost day one at Oregon and has blossomed into almost the perfect outside linebacker. He set career highs in TFLs (13), run stops (14), sacks (seven) and forced fumbles (two), and when he missed a tackle against Washington in the fourth quarter of Oregon’s 12th game, it was his first official miss all season. — Connelly
CB, Indiana, junior
2025 notable stats: 39 tackles, 31 solo, 8 PDs
2025 preseason ranking: 82
A freshman All-American at James Madison, Ponds has been a huge part of the Indiana rebuild from Curt Cignetti’s first day in charge. He can line up wide or in the slot, and he’s one of the nation’s surest tacklers at the cornerback position. Don’t even bother targeting him downfield: On passes of 10 or more air yards, he has given up only a 28% completion rate. — Connelly
WR, Georgia, junior
2025 notable stats: 73 rec, 744 yards, 5 TDs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
As an extension of the run game, Branch catches most of his passes near the line of scrimmage but averages 8.1 yards after catch. After a reasonably slow start, Branch averaged 6.6 catches and 64.7 yards over his past seven games. He also might be the scariest return man in the CFP. — Connelly
WR, Indiana, junior
2025 notable stats: 58 rec, 804 yards, 11 TDs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
Cooper combined with Elijah Sarratt to provide the perfect 1-2 punch for Fernando Mendoza. He enjoyed two perfect games this season (he caught a combined 18 of 18 passes for 322 yards against Indiana State and Michigan State), and with Sarratt hurt, he made the catch of the year against Penn State with a toe-tapping touchdown with 41 seconds left. — Connelly
DE, Miami, senior
2025 notable stats: 52 tackles, 12 TFLs, 7 sacks
2025 preseason ranking: NR
A sixth-year senior and West Virginia transfer, Mesidor has been a fantastic battery mate for Rueben Bain Jr., either tying or setting career highs this season in TFLs (12), run stops (10), sacks (seven), pressures (42) and pressure rate (13.9%). Following Miami’s back-to-back losses, he raised his game down the stretch, helping to assure the Hurricanes’ rebounded in the CFP rankings. — Connelly
DE, Oklahoma, sophomore
2025 notable stats: 43 tackles, 12 TFLs, 6 sacks
2025 preseason ranking: NR
Oklahoma lost R Mason Thomas to injury in November, and Wein, who entered the season with only one career tackle, made sure it didn’t matter in the slightest. He recorded at least one TFL in 10 of 12 games, and he made 2.5 sacks with seven pressures in late wins over Alabama and Missouri. Thomas’ return to the lineup could take the focus off of him and also make him more effective. — Connelly
S, Oregon, junior
2025 notable stats: 31 solo tackles, 2 INTs, 4 PDs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
After serving his time at Purdue, Thieneman moved to Eugene and quickly thrived as a patrolman in the back. Oregon ranks fifth nationally in yards allowed per dropback (4.7) and ninth in interception rate (4.0%), and Thieneman’s fingerprints are all over that. His overtime interception against Penn State both clinched a CFP berth for the Ducks (in retrospect) and sent the Nittany Lions spiraling. — Connelly
S, Indiana, senior
2025 notable stats: 67 tackles, 6 INTs, 2.5 TFLs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
A former junior college player who sued for an extra year of eligibility, Moore transferred back to Indiana after a year at Ole Miss, and he has become a wonderfully effective ball hawk for a defense that is tied for sixth nationally with 25 takeaways. An active defensive front creates pressure and then Moore swoops in to pounce on a quarterback’s mistakes. — Connelly
QB, Ole Miss, senior
2025 notable stats: 3,016 yards, 19 total TDs, 86.0 QBR
2025 preseason ranking: NR
A year ago, Chambliss was leading Ferris State to the Division II title. Now he’s leading Ole Miss into its first CFP. Austin Simmons began the season as the Rebels’ starter but sustained an early injury. Chambliss made the most of his 10 starts, finishing fifth in Total QBR and eighth in the Heisman voting. He’s a passer first, but he will torch you with his legs if you let him. — Connelly
WR, Ohio State, senior
2025 notable stats: 48 rec, 838 yards, 9 TDs
2025 preseason ranking: 67
The best No. 3 receiver in the country last season, Tate has become maybe the best No. 2 in 2025. He has topped 100 yards four times this season — including a 183-yard effort against Minnesota — and he has caught at least one touchdown pass in eight of the 10 games he has played. Tate sat out three games in November but returned to catch the clinching 50-yard TD against Michigan. — Connelly
DT, Texas Tech, senior
2025 notable stats: 11 solo tackles, 8.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks
2025 preseason ranking: NR
Part of Texas Tech’s lucrative defensive transfer class, Hunter arrived from UCF and immediately had an impact on the Red Raiders’ front. Hunter earned third-team AP All-America honors and was a first-team All-Big 12 selection after fortifying the interior line with 34 tackles. The 6-foot-4, 330-pound Hunter regularly commanded double-teams and helped Texas Tech become the nation’s best against the run. — Rittenberg
QB, Georgia, redshirt junior
2025 notable stats: 2,691 yards, 31 total TDs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
Stockton waited his turn to become Georgia’s starter as a fourth-year junior and was certainly up for the challenge, leading the Bulldogs to another SEC title with a nine-game win streak since an early loss to Alabama. He currently ranks No. 6 nationally in QBR (85.8) and offered plenty of proof in tough tests against Ole Miss, Texas and Tennessee that he’s capable of taking his team on another title run. — Olson
TE, Oregon, junior
2025 notable stats: 40 rec, 490 yards, 8 TDs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
In a season in which injuries hit Oregon’s wide receiver room especially hard, Sadiq emerged as a capable target. He earned second-team AP All-America honors and was named the Big Ten’s Tight End of the Year after recording eight touchdown catches — most among FBS tight ends — and a team-high 40 receptions. Despite sitting out some time because of injury, Sadiq recorded 490 receiving yards and became the first Oregon tight end to be a finalist for the Mackey Award. — Rittenberg
WR, Indiana, senior
2025 notable stats: 51 rec, 687 yards, 12 TDs
2025 preseason ranking: 78
One of coach Curt Cignetti’s plug-and-play transfers from James Madison, Sarratt followed a third-team All-Big Ten season in 2024 with a second-team selection this fall, despite sitting out some time because of a hamstring injury. Sarratt recorded touchdown catches in all but two games he played and had three multi-touchdown performances and four with seven or more receptions. Sarratt has 186 receptions for 2,835 yards and 28 touchdowns during the past three seasons. — Rittenberg
LB, Ohio State, senior
2025 notable stats: 45 solo tackles, 1 FF, 1 INT
2024 preseason ranking: 62
The 6-foot-5, 243-pound playmaker has performed at an All-America level for the Buckeyes and should be a first-round NFL draft pick next spring after shining under new defensive coordinator Matt Patricia. He’s the leading tackler on the No. 1 defense in the country, had a season-high 12 stops in the Big Ten title game and ranks fourth among all starting linebackers in Pro Football Focus grading this season. — Olson
0:33
Alabama comes away with a big-time INT in the 3rd quarter
Bray Hubbard hauls in the tipped ball for a big-time Crimson Tide interception.
S, Alabama, junior
2025 notable stats: 4 INT, 6 PBU, 3 FFs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
After emerging as a starter in 2024 and leading the team with three interceptions, Hubbard solidified himself as one of the nation’s best defensive backs this season. The junior safety from Mississippi earned first-team All-America honors and again led Alabama with four interceptions, while contributing 66 tackles and a team-high six pass breakups. Hubbard had an interception and a forced fumble in Alabama’s narrow win against Auburn in the Iron Bowl. — Rittenberg
OT, Miami, junior
2025 notable stat: Nation’s third-highest pass-blocking grade (88.8)
2025 preseason ranking: 24
A mainstay at right tackle for the past three seasons, Mauigoa earned first-team AP All-America honors this fall after anchoring one of the nation’s top offensive lines. Miami ranks fifth nationally in fewest tackles for loss allowed (3.5 per game) and tied for eighth in fewest sacks allowed (.92 per game), while averaging 37.8 points during the final four regular-season games. He won the ACC’s Jacobs Blocking Trophy and earned the nation’s third-highest pass-blocking grade (88.8) from Pro Football Focus. — Rittenberg
QB, Oregon, sophomore
2025 notable stats: 2,733 yards, 24 TDs, 77.8 QBR
2025 preseason ranking: NR
After starting five games as a true freshman at UCLA in 2023, Moore took the rare step of transferring to a place where he knew playing time would be limited. He used the gap year in 2024 to refocus and blossomed this fall for the Ducks, completing 72.5% of his pass attempts with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. Moore helped rally Oregon to road wins against Penn State and Iowa and had 849 passing yards in his final three regular-season games that has him projected as possibly the top pick in the 2026 NFL draft. — Rittenberg
OT, Indiana, junior
2025 notable stat: No. 2 graded offensive lineman in the Power 4
2025 preseason ranking: NR
The Hoosiers prioritized upgrading their offensive line after 2024 and made several key additions through the portal. Their best blocker though turned out to be a holdover in Smith, who started the previous two seasons for the Hoosiers at left tackle. He protected the blind side of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza and became the first Indiana player named Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year. Smith also is the first IU tackle to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors since Charley Peal in 1977. — Rittenberg
LB, Ohio State, junior
2025 notable stats: 6.5 sacks, 10 TFL, 62 total tackles
2025 preseason ranking: NR
A new set of stars emerged to lead the nation’s No. 1 defense this fall, and Reese was undeniably front and center. He has thrived under new coordinator Matt Patricia, recording 6.5 sacks and 10 tackles for loss from the edge position and finished second on the squad with 62 total tackles. One of three Buckeyes defenders named a first-team AP All-American, Reese was named Big Ten’s Linebacker of the Year and recorded a sack in six of Ohio State’s first eight games of the season. — Rittenberg
WR, Miami, freshman
2025 notable stats: 84 rec, 970 yards, 7 TDs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
The Miami native dazzled in his home area during his freshman year at the U, recording twice as many receptions than any other Hurricanes player this season, while leading the ACC in touchdowns and ranking fourth in the league in receiving yards, which marked a Miami freshman record. Toney had four 100-yard receiving performances, including in each of his final two regular-season games. A second-team AP All-America selection, Toney earned ACC Rookie of the Year honors after leading FBS freshmen in receptions. — Rittenberg
G, Oregon, senior
2025 notable stat: 87.3 pass-blocking grade
2025 preseason ranking: NR
A key member of an Oregon offensive front reshaped through the transfer portal, Pregnon earned first-team AP All-America honors during his first season with the Ducks. After starting two seasons for USC, Pregnon helped protect quarterback Dante Moore, giving up no sacks and only three pressures on 335 pass-blocking opportunities. Oregon enters the CFP ranked sixth in fewest tackles for loss allowed. — Rittenberg
DL, Ohio State, junior
2025 notable stats: 28 solo tackles, 3 sacks, 2 FFs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
Running against Ohio State is no easy task, thanks in large part to the work of McDonald around the line of scrimmage. McDonald racked up 16 run stuffs this season — stops on runs at or behind the line — while making 60 total tackles on plays that gained an average of just 1.1 yards. McDonald missed only two tackles all season, making him one of the most reliable defenders on the D-line in the country. — Hale
RB, Ole Miss, sophomore
2025 notable stats: 258 carries, 20 TDs, 1,279 yards
2025 preseason ranking: NR
After playing sparingly for Missouri in 2024, Lacy became one of the top impact transfers in the country under coach Lane Kiffin and the Rebels. He set an Ole Miss single-season record with 20 rushing touchdowns and became the school’s first finalist for the Doak Walker Award. Lacy leads the nation in rushing touchdowns and is fourth nationally in points per game. According to Pro Football Focus, he is second nationally in missed tackles forced (84) and fourth in yards after contact (809). Lacy had at least one rushing touchdown in all but one game. — Rittenberg
DL, Ohio State, senior
2025 notable stats: 36 solo tackles, 11 sacks, 1 FF
2025 preseason ranking: NR
Curry was a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks this season, racking up 11 sacks, 16.5 tackles for loss, six QB hurries and 40 pressures. Curry’s versatility allowed him to create havoc on the edge and inside throughout the season, and his ability to move in space and play physical helped him rack up 62 total tackles, most in the Big Ten by a defensive lineman. — Hale
WR, Texas A&M, junior
2025 notable stats: 886 yards, 9 TDs, 12 total TDs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
No incoming transfer this season has affected two phases of the game as much as Concepcion, who won the Paul Hornung Award as the nation’s most versatile player. The NC State transfer earned first-team All-SEC honors at wide receiver, return specialist and all-purpose player, after leading the league with nine receiving touchdowns and 480 all-purpose yards. He became the first A&M player in the modern era to score on a reception, a rush and a punt return in the same year. Concepcion had 57 receptions for 886 yards. — Hale
DL, Miami, junior
2025 notable stats: 19 solo tackles, 4.5 sacks, 1 INT
2025 preseason ranking: 33
The numbers don’t exactly scream superstar. Bain had 4.5 sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss and 37 total tackles. But ask any QB or offensive coordinator who faced Miami this season who the best player on the field was, and the answer probably would be unanimous. Bain’s motor is unrivaled, and the attention he commands at the line of scrimmage opens up lanes for others on Miami’s front. For the season, Bain racked up 48 pressures — tops in the ACC — and 18 stops at or behind the line of scrimmage. — Hale
LB, Georgia, junior
2025 notable stats: 45 solo tackles, 3.5 sacks, 2 FFs
2025 preseason ranking: 38
Perhaps the most fierce player on the Dawgs’ defense, Allen is a machine in the middle for Georgia, racking up 85 total tackles, including eight for a loss. He added four PBUs, two QB hurries, two forced fumbles and contested seven of 16 targets while in coverage. — Hale
CB, Ohio State, junior
2025 notable stats: 18 solo tackles, 1 INT
2025 preseason ranking: 3
Downs picked off two passes this season, which is far more impressive than it sounds, because despite playing 322 snaps in coverage, opposing QBs targeted him only 20 times. Downs gave up only nine catches all season as the primary defender, accounting for only 72 yards and no touchdowns. The longest completion he gave up was 17 yards. A 14-yard completion in the second quarter of the Big Ten title game was the first one he’d given up in nearly two months. There is not a more lockdown corner in the country than Downs. — Hale
DL, Texas A&M, senior
2025 notable stats: 19 solo tackles, 11.5 sacks, 1 FF
2025 preseason ranking: NR
The problem, according to Miami coach Mario Cristobal, with trying to control Texas A&M’s pass rush is that the Aggies so rarely need to bring extra help. The front four dominates on its own. There’s plenty of praise to go around, of course, but the leader of that group is Howell, who led the SEC with 11.5 sacks and finished fourth with 14 tackles for loss. Howell added five QB hurries, six PBUs and a forced fumble for good measure. If the Aggies are going to make a deep run, it probably will be because of the chaos created up front by Howell & Co. — Hale
QB, Ohio State, sophomore
2025 notable stats: 3,323 passing yards, 31 TDs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
When Will Howard left after winning a national championship last season, Ohio State could’ve chased another veteran in the portal. Instead, the Buckeyes handed the keys to the best roster in college football to a player with no real previous experience. Sayin didn’t flinch. From beating Texas in Week 1 to blossoming into a Heisman finalist by year’s end, Sayin never appeared overwhelmed by the moment, racking up an eye-popping stat line that included 31 touchdown passes, only six interceptions and a nearly 79% completion percentage. Sayin’s 182.2 passer rating was the best in the country, and if he makes a similar leap in the playoff as Howard did last year — there might be no stopping Ohio State from a repeat. — Hale
OLB, Texas Tech, senior
2025 notable stats: 27 solo tackles, 13.5 sacks, 3 FFs
2025 preseason ranking: 57
One of the best pass rushers in the country, Bailey led all Power 4 players in sacks with 13.5. He finished the regular season with 17.5 tackles for loss, 13 QB hurries, 65 pressures, a ridiculous 19.9% pressure rate and three forced fumbles. The Red Raiders’ defensive front was its best weapon, and no one on that D-line created more havoc in 2025 than Bailey. — Hale
LB, Texas Tech, senior
2025 notable stats: 117 tackles, 61 solo, 7 FFs
2025 preseason ranking: 92
Arguably the best defensive player in the country in 2025, Rodriguez dominated in all areas for Texas Tech this season. He racked up 117 tackles, second most in the Big 12. He picked off four passes, had 11 tackles for loss, broke up six passes and forced seven fumbles. And as if it wasn’t enough to dominate on defense, Rodriguez even got into the action on offense, rushing twice and scoring both times. — Hale
WR, Ohio State, sophomore
2025 notable stats: 1,086 rec yards, 11 TDs
2025 preseason ranking: 1
If we’re ranking based on talent alone, there’s a good argument that no player comes close to matching Smith’s ability. Smith caught 80 balls for 1,086 yards and 11 touchdowns as a sophomore, but that doesn’t really tell the story. It’s how he has done it. Smith commands double-teams constantly, draws the attention of everyone’s best corner, and has every defensive coordinator he faces scheming to slow him down. And none of it has mattered. Smith continues to produce big play after big play, opening up options for Ohio State’s offense all over the field. — Hale
QB, Indiana, junior
2025 notable stats: 2,980 passing yards, 39 total TDs
2025 preseason ranking: NR
The Heisman Trophy winner has to top the list. Mendoza was a force for Indiana, as the Hoosiers took the next step from playoff Cinderella in 2024 to the No. 1 team in the country entering the 2025 postseason. Mendoza’s final numbers tell the story: more than 3,200 total yards, 39 touchdowns and only six interceptions for the last undefeated team in the country. — Hale
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