MANHATTAN, Kan.— Former K-State great and record-setting quarterback Michael Bishop was one of 76 Football Bowl Subdivision players named to the 2016 ballot for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, the National Football Foundation announced today.

One of the most dynamic players in program history, Bishop played a major role in propelling the Wildcats to their first-ever No. 1 national ranking during the second of his two seasons at K-State (1997-1998).

The 1998 Heisman Trophy runner up and the Davey O’Brien Award winner, Bishop still holds the K-State season passing efficiency record after a 159.6 rating in 1998 (164-of-295 for 2,844 yards and 23 TDs/4 INTs) in addition to the season total offense mark at 3,592 yards. He went 22-3 as a starter, including a 15-1 mark in Big 12 play, while also earning All-Big 12 honors both as a junior and senior. Bishop was taken in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL Draft by New England.

Most recently, Bishop was also named to the K-State Ring of Honor Class of 2015 and will join Jordy Nelson, Clarence Scott and Darren Sproles as the newest members of the Wildcat program’s most elite honor.

“It’s an enormous honor to just be on the ballot when you think that more than 5.06 million people have played college football,” said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. “The Hall’s requirement of being a First Team All-American creates a much smaller pool of only 1,500 individuals who are even eligible to be on the ballot, so being in today’s elite group means an individual is truly among the greatest to ever have played the game, and we are proud to announce their names. We look forward to announcing the 2016 Hall of Fame Class on the Friday before the College Football Playoff National Championship.”

The announcement of the 2016 Class will be made Friday, Jan. 8, 2016, at the JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn in Scottsdale, Arizona. The hotel is serving as the official media hotel for the College Football Playoff National Championship, which will be played Jan. 11 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Several of the inductees will be on site at the press conference to represent the class and share their thoughts on the announcement. The Jan. 8 event will be televised live, and more information will be available as the date draws near. Inductees will also participate in the pregame festivities and the coin toss on Jan. 11.

The tradition of announcing the College Football Hall of Fame inductees on the Friday before the national title game does not have an impact on the induction ceremonies, which continue to take place during the NFF Annual Awards Dinner in New York City at the Waldorf Astoria, and the 2016 Class will be inducted on Dec. 6, 2016.

To be eligible for the ballot, players must have been named a First Team All-American by a major/national selector as recognized and utilized by the NCAA for their consensus All-America teams; played their last year of intercollegiate football at least 10 years prior; played within the last 50 years and cannot be currently playing professional football.

Once nominated for consideration, all player candidates are submitted to one of eight District Screening Committees, depending on their school’s geographic location, which conducts a vote to determine who will appear on the ballot and represent their respective districts. Each year, approximately 15 candidates, who are not selected for the Hall of Fame, will be named automatic holdovers and will bypass the district screening process and automatically appear on the ballot the following year. Additionally, the Veterans Committee may make recommendations to the Honors Court for exceptions that allow for the induction of players who played more than 50 years ago.

Of the 5.06 million individuals who have played college football since Princeton first battled Rutgers on Nov. 6, 1869, only 963 players, including the 2015 class, have earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, or less than two ten-thousandths (.0002) of one percent of those who have played the game during the past 146 years.

Head coach Bill Snyder will be a part of the Hall’s Class of 2015 induction festivities which will include an on-campus salute prior to the season-opening game against South Dakota as well as the induction ceremony in New York on December 7.

Kansas State, which returns 44 letterwinners -- including 16 starters -- from last year’s 9-4 team, begins the 2015 campaign on Saturday, September 5, by hosting South Dakota at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The other six home games feature five opponents that advanced to bowl games in 2014, including a pair of top-10 teams in TCU (No. 3/3) and Baylor (No. 7/8).

A limited number of single-game tickets for the 2015 season go on sale online only at www.k-statesports.com/tickets on June 22, while fans can purchase by calling the ticket office at 1-800-221-CATS beginning June 24.