thumb|180px|right|The award is named to honor the late Buck Buchanan.
The Buck Buchanan Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding defensive player in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) of college football, and was first given in 1995 after the Walter Payton Award was designated solely for offensive players.
It was named in honor of Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle Buck Buchanan (died 1992), who starred at Grambling State University. Buchanan was an All-American defensive lineman and the first overall pick in the 1963 American Football League (AFL) Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Winners
{| class="wikitable sortable" style ="text-align: center;"
|-
! Season
! Winner
! Pos.
! School
! class=unsortable |
|-
| 1995 || || LB || Appalachian State ||
|-
| 1996 || (2) || LB || Appalachian State ||
|-
| 2016 || || DE || Northern Iowa ||
|}
Awards won by school
This is a list of the colleges and universities who have had a player win a Buck Buchanan Award. Cal Poly (2004, 2005, 2006) is the only program with three winners. Appalachian State (1995–1996), Eastern Washington (2008, 2010), James Madison (2001, 2009), Montana (2007, 2019), Montana State (2012–2013), and Western Illinois (1998, 2000), are the only schools to win the award twice. Dexter Coakley of Appalachian State is the only player to win the award twice.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;" width="auto"
|-
! School
! Awards
|-
| Cal Poly
| rowspan="1" | 3
|-
| Appalachian State^
| rowspan="6" | 2
|-
| Eastern Washington
|-
| James Madison^
|-
| Montana
|-
| Montana State
|-
| Western Illinois
|-
| Bethune–Cookman
| rowspan=16 | 1
|-
| Central Arkansas
|-
| Florida A&M
|-
| Idaho State
|-
| Illinois State
|-
| Jacksonville State^
|-
| Mercer
|-
| New Hampshire
|-
| Norfolk State
|-
| North Carolina A&T
|-
| North Dakota State
|-
| Northern Iowa
|-
| Southeast Missouri State
|-
| Southern
|-
| Tennessee State
|-
| Troy State^
|}
:^ Team is now a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).