Please stay tuned to the 76th annual NFL Draft Thursday-Saturday (and the 75-year anniversary of the first NFL draft in 1937) live on many segments (check national and local listings) on ESPN. Dozens of National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athletes and NFF Hampshire Senior Scholars are in the running for high selections, and several student-athletes will be highlighted in next week’s Chalktalk.

Happy birthdays to NFF College Hall of Famers Carroll Dale (Apr. 24), Randy Cross (Apr. 25), Lee Roy Jordan (Apr. 27), Bill Enyart (Apr. 28), Jon Arnett and Jerry Stovall (Apr. 30)…

NFF College Hall of Fame Facts
Some key birthdates in NFF College Football Hall of Fame annals in the Apr. 24-30 time period are Apr. 24 (1915) Ed Franco, Jersey City, N.J.; (1921) Weldon Humble, Nixon, Texas; (1938) Carroll Dale, Wise, Va.; Apr. 25 (1954) Randy Cross, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Apr. 26 (1927) John Ralston, Oakland, Calif.; Apr. 27 (1887) Bishop Frank Juhan, Macon, Ga.; (1941) Lee Roy Jordan, Excel, Ala.; Apr. 28 (1876) Frank Cavanaugh, Worcester, Mass.; (1947) Bill Enyart, Pawhuska, Okla.; (1955) Wilson Whitley, Brenham, Texas; Apr. 29 (1914) Darrell Lester, Jacksboro, Texas; (1920) David Nelson, Detroit, Mich.; Apr. 30 (1871) Fielding Yost, Fairview, W.Va.; (1887) Doc Fenton, Scranton, Pa.; (1895) Bernie Moore, Jonesboro, Tenn.; (1918) Augie Lio, East Boston, Mass.; (1935) Jon Arnett, Los Angeles, Calif.; (1941) Jerry Stovall, West Monroe, La.
Anniversary death dates of Hall of Famers are Apr. 24 (1978) Hunk Anderson, West Palm Beach, Fla.; Apr. 26 (2011) Jim Mandich, Miami, Fla.; Apr. 28 (1962) Arnett “Ace” Mumford, Baton Rouge, La.; (1993) Ben Schwartzwalder, St. Petersburg, Fla.
College Football Notes…

Boston College and Massachusetts have scheduled a new series for the 2014, ’16 and ’18 seasons…FAU and Miami (Fla.) will start a three-game series at Miami Aug. 31, 2013. before going to FAU in 2015 and returning to Miami in 2016…Rice and Baylor will face off again during the 2015, ’16 and ’19 campaigns. They first met on the gridiron in 1914…Indiana and Indiana State will complete a three-game series from 2012-14…Iowa State and San Jose State will have a home-and-home rivalry in 2016 and ’17…Duke and Louisville will meet at a date and site to be determined during the 2016 season…South Dakota will host defending FCS champ North Dakota State on Oct. 20…Utah’s 2012 spring contest included a celebrity barbecue contest and numerous family events…Florida State added enhancements for its Garnet and Gold Spring Football Weekend celebration…LSU athletics will sends its proposal for expansion of Tiger Stadium to the Louisiana Board of Supervisors Tuesday…Tennessee has hosted a number of morning spring practices to take advantage of weather-perfect conditions…SMU under head coach June Jones has utilized early morning practices in-season for the last four seasons…Brigham Young athletics is planning renovations on offices and facilities at the Marriott Center…Missouri unveiled uniforms for five sports, including football, for 2012-13…Syracuse athletics is making plans for a possible new football practice facility…Jackson State hopes its appeal for postseason eligibility will be accepted by the NCAA Enforcement Committee…Vanderbilt athletics has proposed a new multipurpose training and recreation facility…Auburn athletics is planning renovations and updates on several dressing room practice facilities…Winston-Salem State is restructuring its football office and primary athletics operations…Michigan athletics has expanded its efforts to prevent drug abuse among student-athletes…TCU has set a goal of a school-record 30,000 season tickets for 2012…Mississippi State hosted record crowds for spring football and related activities during its 27th annual Super Bulldog Weekend, Fan Fair and Pork Barbecue Cookoff contests. The Bulldogs also worked quite a few playing-field newcomers into a crisply-contested spring game…Ohio State delighted spring football fans with new head coach Urban Meyer’s “hurry-up” offensive schemes.

Air Force football seniors and coaching staff members received the 2011 Commander-in-Chief Trophy from President Barack Obama in a Rose Garden ceremony at the White House earlier today…The Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl Finally Home building project for wounded veterans was featured on PBS “Turning Point” nationally last Monday…Last Friday’s Uplifting Athletes Gridiron Gala in Harrisburg, Pa., featured a special lounge with tailgate games, an XBOX Kinect, a photo booth, and a silent auction with Items such as autographed helmets from head coaches Bill O’Brien of Penn State and Urban Meyer of Ohio State along with themed football gift baskets. Proceeds went to those needing assistance with medical expenses due to medical conditions or injuries. The event had several motivational speeches by former student-athletes and coaches in the Uplifting Athletes programs…Ohio State published a fan-friendly guide to the 2012 LiFE spring football contest for stadium access, concessions, family areas, and weather predictions last week…Michigan State football and athletics sponsored Random Acts of Kindness Week…Central Connecticut State athletics hosted the second annual Rich Royster & Brittany Mariani Flag Football Tournament on campus for charitable purposes…UCLA athletics has founded a Shoes4Soles chapter in Los Angeles…Wisconsin student-athletes helped local elementary schools with the Red, White and Read literacy program…The FWAA, Brooks Brothers and selected athletics departments are collaborating in national fundraising efforts for the Make-A-Wish Foundation…Northwestern had one of its largest days of participation in 2012 National Student-Athlete Day…Georgetown athletics held its annual Jog For Jill run to help raise money for cancer research in memory of former California student-athlete Jill Costello…Old Dominion student-athletes visited several area schools to promote Project Purple, a national anti-drug campaign for youngsters…North Texas and St. John’s (N.Y.) football players and other student-athletes participated in area American Cancer Society Relay for Life runs…UIndy student-athletes raised awareness for human trafficking and child slavery in underserved countries with a recent educational campaign on campus and in local schools…Southern Miss athletics hosted Military Appreciation Day last Saturday.

South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier has proposed new methods for deciding the division champions for Southeastern Conference football…New Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien mad his public debut in the PSU Blue-White Game last Saturday and became the first new mentor in the contest since the late NFF College Hall of Famer Joe Paterno took over the program in 1966…Former LaGrange College head coach Tony Kunczewski has become the first head football coach in Berry (Ga.) College history…Over 2,300 race participants helped raise $40,000-plus in the Beat Coach Pete Fun Run with head coach Chris Peterson to help fund Boise State scholarships…Michigan offensive coordinator Al Borges signed a new three-year contract with a solid pay increase…Northern Iowa named Travis Williams linebackers coach.

New directors of athletics abounded last with Tom Bowen at Memphis, Bill School at Ball State, Mark Alnutt (Southeast Missouri), Joe Quinlan at St. Peters (N.J.), and Marie Tuite (interim) at San Jose State…Western Kentucky’s search for a new AD has been progressing well, according to top university officials…Colorado AD Mike Bohn was featured in a recent regional story about CU athletics’ progress in the Pacific-12 Conference…Longtime media relations and marketing guru Sean Johnson of North Dakota athletics is a finalist for the Northern Michigan AD post…Montana athletics hopes to have a fulltime AD in position by autumn…Oklahoma State associate AD Larry Reece was saluted for 22 years on football and basketball public address as well as radio play-by-play duties…Texas A&M AD Bill Byrne will complete his contractual obligations to the Aggies in August 2013 after coming to Aggieland in 2002…Penn State associate AD Mark Sherburne has left the athletics program.

Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference have continued their negotiations about football scheduling alliances and possible mergers, according to several national reports…The Sun Belt Conference has announced its league package of ESPN Family of Networks telecasts, and it is accessible at sunbeltsports.org/football…The Mountain West Conference has slated its football coaches’ national spring teleconference and will post online afterward…Southern Conference joint student-athletes’ volunteers collected a composite 600,000-plus aluminum drink tabs to raise fund for Ronald McDonald Houses, and Elon athletics paced the group with more than 130,000…The last four Atlantic Coast Conference teams played their spring football games on April 21, and the league’s annual national spring teleconference with head coaches occurs Tuesday. Fans can follow it live on the official ACC website…The ACC issued a public reprimand to North Carolina in football as a corollary to 2012 NCAA Committee on Infractions sanctions.

The 2012 10th annual Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl will be played at Saturday, Dec. 29, at TCU’s Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth Texas, with a 10:45 a.m. (CST) kickoff. ESPN and ESPN Radio will provide national coverage…The 15th annual Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., will air on Monday, Dec. 31, at 11 a.m. (CST) at LP Field. The contest matches the ACC and SEC, and that agreement runs through the 2013 campaign…The 45th annual 2012 Chick-fil-A Bowl between the ACC and SEC Monday, Dec. 31, at 7:30 p.m. (EST) in the Georgia Dome at Atlanta…Former AT&T Cotton Bowl chair Fred McClure was quoted and referenced in a story about Texas A&M’s first African American Corps commander Marquis Alexander. McClure was A&M’s first African American student body president in 1976-77…AT&T Cotton Bowl chair Tommy Bain met with SEC commissioner Mike Slive and other key conference officials last week in College Station, Texas, prior to this week’s national Bowl Championship Series confab. Bain has proposed adding Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, as a future BCS site as well as continuing the 77-year old Classic.

ESPN Radio will broadcast all Southern California Trojan football games live in ’12…The BTN will add spring football highlights and features as well as expanded spring sports championships to its 2012 lineup…ESPN3 has expanded coverage of Southland Conference football and spring sporting events…ESPN.com rates the “Quarterback U” candidates for the decade of the 2010s as Southern California, California, Florida, Auburn, and Baylor, among others.

Wyoming selected its four captains for the 2012 campaign, and they are LB Korey Jones, SS Luke Ruff, C Nick Carlson, and QB Brett Smith…WR Jacob Carter has drawn rave notices for his receiving in several Tennessee scrimmages…Notre Dame tight ends, led by projected starter Tyler Eifert, were chronicled in a recent ESPN.com feature…Southern California has received key contributions from projected All-Pac-12 Conference WR Marqise Lee as spring practice unfolded…Senior RB James Morrison motored for 83 rushing yards on 13 carries in last Saturday’s Arizona State intrasquad skirmish…Former Oklahoma WR Justin McCay will not be eligible to play at Kansas in 2012 but may get an appeal ruling from the NCAA by May 1…Former Notre Dame DE Aaron Lynch apparently is setting his transfer sights for 2012 on USF…Former Maryland OT Max Garcia is transferring to Florida…Midwestern State OG Amini Silatolu is rated among the Top 25-30 choices in most projections and hopes to become the first MSU student-athlete to be drafted in the regular phase of this week’s NFL Draft…BleacherReport.com rates Western Michigan standout WR Jordan White as the most difficult loss at the position to replace in 2012 FBS activity.

The AT&T Cotton Bowl inducted its 2012 Hall of Fame class with NFF College of Fame coach Lou Holtz, Tom Campbell of Texas, Kevin Murray of Texas A&M, Shay Muirbrook of Brigham Young, and Jim Williams of Arkansas…Longtime Duke and Army coach and administrator Mike Krzyzewski has received the 2012 Wayman Tisdale Humanitarian Award in Oklahoma City…Award-winning broadcaster Bob Neal captured the 2012 Lindsey Nelson Award from the Knoxville (Tenn.) Quarterback Club…College Baseball Hall of Fame member Jim Abbott delivered a moving motivational speech at Queens (N.Y.) College.

Utah is inaugurating the $150 million capital Campaign for Utah Athletics…Lipscomb athletics launched a $6 million fundraising campaign…Syracuse athletics is making $5 million in improvements and renovations on the football wing of its office complex…The Murchie family has made a $1 million donation to Buffalo athletics…West Virginia athletics already is receiving a sizeable “bump” in individual contributions with its 2012-13 move to the Big 12 Conference…LIU-C.W. Post athletics is set to perform major renovations at Hickox Field on campus…Northwestern football introduced its new This Is Your Armour Under Armour jersey collection at the spring intrasquad skirmish…Notre Dame athletics debuted The Shirt 2012 for its athletic apparel collection last Friday…The Georgia State football projects a $150,000 savings in travel costs after joining the Sun Belt Conference…Golfer and alum Steve Stricker made a $25,000 donation from his PGA President’s Cup winnings to Wisconsin athletics…Nebraska-Omaha athletics has partnered with Nelligan Sports Marketing for ticketing and marketing procedures…Minnesota athletics has hired the Aspire Group to assist with marketing and promotions…XOS has introduced a new mobile application for Windows phones, and several football marketing departments already are devising update methods…Pacific athletics has rejuvenated the Pacific Athletics Foundation…Paciolan has renewed its 20-year ticketing and marketing contract with East Carolina.

The NAIA has added four new schools for 2012-13 to its ranks: Georgia Gwinnett, Indiana-Kokomo, Lindenwood (Ill.), and St. Andrews University (N.C.)…The inaugural NCAA Division III Week celebration produced a wide variety of amenities and kudos for football and several other sports…Iowa Western, SUNY Delhi and Fresno City pace the 2011-12 National Association of Two-Year College Athletics Association Directors Cup Standings for all sports prior to final spring semester activity…Albion won the quarterly CoSIDA Division III publicity recognition for excellence in writing and editing…The NCAA Working Enforcement Committee is requesting feedback and suggestions from all NCAA divisional members via their password-protected sites…The NAIA paid homage to 27-year national staff member Wally Schwartz at its recent gathering in Kansas City and added Ron Wilde of Carroll (Mont.) as 2012 Wally Schwartz Award recipient. Harold Hubbard and E.L. Hutton also were selected for the NAIA Hall of Fame…CoSIDA just completed an online instructional session on crisis communications for its members and key administrators.