There’s plenty to dislike about the current state of college sports. But amid all the frustration, there are still great stories and players worth pulling for.
So, before the season starts, let’s focus on the good. Here are five players who are almost impossible not to root for.
LSU OL Bo Bordelon
Bordelon, a fifth-year LSU offensive lineman, has appeared in 42 games during his college career but has made just one start. He’s finally in a position where could start this season for Lane Kiffin’s first LSU team. He’s even been a popular candidate to wear one of LSU’s iconic No. 7 or 18 numbers this fall if it doesn’t go to the two clear favorites, Whit Weeks and Trey’Dez Green.
Here’s what Hunt Palmer of the Hunt Palmer Show had to say about Bo Bordelon.
“In an era of rampant transfers, Bo Bordelon has come into LSU and waited his turn. He’s only started one game in four years and that was a ball game where three offensive lineman opted out instead of transferring. Bordelon continued to work and his one starting job at left guard he’s a Louisiana lifer and LSU Football legacy. He’s also a guy who earned a spot in his last year on campus. That’s why it’s easy to pull for,” said Palmer.
Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss
These aren’t rankings by any means, but if they were it would be difficult to not put Chambliss at No. 1.
Chambliss is living the dream and has become the poster child for what could be great about the transfer portal and NIL era. Two years ago, he was a Division II quarterback. If that doesn’t sound bad enough, he was also living in Michigan. Yuck. Lane Kiffin’s staff found him at Ferris State and offered him nearly half a million dollars to be the backup quarterback for the season.
As luck would have it, he turned into the starter by game three and never looked back. Chambliss earned a sixth year of eligibility and now reportedly makes between $4 million and $6 million at Ole Miss while entering 2026 as a Heisman frontrunner.
Oklahoma LB Owen Heinecke
Owen Heinecke is another feel good story who avoided the grips of the NCAA’s stupidity this offseason and was granted a final year of eligibility. There’s been a recent trend of sixth-year standouts suing the NCAA for another season of college football despite being old enough to get kicked off their parents’ insurance. Heinecke wasn’t one of them.
A former lacrosse player, he lost his NCAA eligibility after playing just 15 total minutes across three games at Ohio State in 2021. Heinecke has been a tremendous leader for the Sooners, and we love anyone that beats the NCAA.
South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers
Two years ago LaNorris Sellers had a breakout season as a redshirt freshman. At the end of the season, if you listen to some South Carolina coaches, he was approached about transferring after the season ended. His dad said an unnamed school even offered him upward of $4 million. Just weeks later, Duke offered Darian Mensah a $4 million-per-year NIL deal.
Sellers stayed for the home state team. Then, he did it again a year later when they went 4-8. He’s loyal. He’s a freak athlete that is a unicorn physically. And, he wears rec specs. It’s impossible to dislike someone wearing rec specs. That’s just science.
Tennessee LB Arion Carter
Carter is an absolute gem of a student-athlete. He’s a Dean’s List student that’s on schedule to graduate with honors this August and a preseason All-SEC talent that has aspirations of being a physician after football. He also cut his hair and held a massive fundraiser to raise awareness for his girlfriend after her cancer diagnosis.
That’s why the NCAA’s decision to suspend him for two games over a $430 flight in January was absurd.
Sure, these are all semantics that fall outside the NCAA’s preferred world of black-and-white decision-making. Getting this one right would have required some logic and common sense, two things the NCAA has proven time and again it struggles to apply.
