NCAA Football 06 is a collegiate American football video game which was released on July 12, 2005. It is the successor to NCAA Football 2005 in the NCAA Football series. The product features former Michigan Wolverines standout and Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard on the cover. He is the only cover athlete not to have played the year before their respective game; Howard last played at Michigan in 1991. It is the only game in the series as of 2013 to have a music soundtrack, as the other games play school fight songs and general band pieces, and the last game in the series to feature Division I FCS teams on all platforms. NCAA Football 06 was the first game in the NCAA Football series to shorten the year to the last 2 digits.

Desmond Kevin Howard is an American former football wide receiver and return specialist who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, where he was a two-time All-American, including a unanimous All-American selection in 1991, winning the Heisman Trophy. He was selected fourth overall in the 1992 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. Howard spent most of his career on special teams as a return specialist and holds the NFL single season record for punt return yardage. With the Green Bay Packers, Howard was named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XXXI after setting an NFL record for punt return yards and returning a kickoff for a 99-yard touchdown, the longest return in Super Bowl history at the time. To date, he is the only special teams player to receive the award. He was inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.