The 2026 College Football Hall of Fame Ballot is out, and there are two familiar faces on the list for Colorado fans who have been around since the glory days under former head coach Bill McCartney. Running back Eric Bieniemy and cornerback Chris Hudson, both of who were key players for CU in the early 1990s, were announced as two of the 79 candidates on the ’26 ballot.

Two former Colorado Buffs are on the 2026 College Football Hall of Fame ballot:
RB Eric Bieniemy
CB Chris Hudson#cubuffs

— Brian Howell (@BrianHowell33) June 2, 2025

Bieniemy finished third in the voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1990 and was a unanimous First-Team All-American that season as he helped lead a rushing attack that carried Colorado to an 11-1-1 season and a national title. He ran for 3,940 yards on 5.6 yards per carry in his four seasons in Boulder to go with 41 touchdowns on the ground. Both the yards and touchdowns still stand as the top spot in the CU record books today.

The 5-foot-7 running back donned the black and gold from 1987 to 1990, and was the Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year in 1990 and made First-Team All-Big Eight in two seasons (1988, 1990).

Hudson came to the Buffs in 1991 after they had won the National Championship and provided an instant impact as a freshman. In his first year at CU, Hudson played in 11 games, had four interceptions (one pick-six), and returned 10 kickoffs and five punts. He was a model of consistency for coach McCartney and Colorado throughout his four years, playing in at least 10 games every season and recording at least three interceptions in all four campaigns.

Hudson played in Boulder from 1991 to 1994, and won the Jim Thorpe Award in 1994, annually awarded to the top cornerback in college football, becoming the second CU player to win the award in three years after Deon Figures brought it to Boulder for the first time in 1992. He was a unanimous All-American in 1994, a Third-Team All-American in 1993, and a two-time First-Team All-Big Eight member (1993, 1994).

Both players are members of the CU Athletic Hall of Fame, as Bieniemy was inducted in 2010 and Hudson in 2016. However, Bieniemy’s name deserves to be immortalized up on the east side of the stadium with the other six players who have had their jerseys retired by the program, but for some odd reason, his name isn’t up there while Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders both jumped him in line to receive the honor.

Of the 5.78 million people who have either coached or played in a college football game since the inaugural game took place in 1869, only 0.02% are in the Hall of Fame. The University of Colorado has 11 members, 10 players plus coach McCartney. The first inductee for the university was Byron White way back in the class of 1954, and the most recent was Deon Figures in the class of 2024. If Figures was inducted into the elite group, there’s no reason why Bieniemy shouldn’t hear his name called in the near future.

The top vote getters and members of the 2026 class should be announced in January at the start of the year.