The College Football season is just days away from the first kickoff as Kansas State and Iowa State are kicking off this Saturday from Dublin. The fans cannot wait to get the football season back and bouncing from wall-to-wall as they patiently wait for the 2025 season.
As many websites begin their countdown to the 2025 season, ESPN recently released its 2025 top 100 players. The Louisville Cardinals are expected to have some elite playmakers on their 2025 roster this season, especially on offense. However, the Cardinals appear to get blatantly disrespected by ESPN yet again.
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Isaac Brown and Chris Bell's questionable ranking is the perfect motivation
When college football fans think of Louisville football, they will think of two names: Isaac Brown and Chris Bell. These two elite playmakers are in the running for nearly every award possible and are poised to have a massive 2025 breakout season, but maybe ESPN thinks otherwise.
In ESPN's top 100 rankings, Brown comes in ranked No. 45 in the nation, the No. 5 running back, and Chris Bell appears not to have made the list, putting him outside the top 10 in the wide receiver position. While this is absolutely ridiculous for both playmakers, the Cardinals need both players to be elite this upcoming season if they want to contend for the College Football Playoffs.
Brown being ranked as the fifth-best running back is a complete and utter joke. The Preseason All-American running back is ranked behind Notre Dame's Jeremiyah Love, Penn State's Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, and Oregon's Makhi Hughes.
Brown has been getting hype and praise all offseason, so him falling to No. 45 in these rankings should light a spark in him and fire him up for the 2025 season. That is exactly what Louisville and Jeff Brohm needed. The star running back ran for 1,173 yards on 7.1 yards per carry last season and is pretty much the unanimous third-best running back entering the 2025 season. His rushing yards and yards per carry are the most rushing yards and yards per carry by a returning player in college football.
As for Bell, he is already turning heads for the 2026 NFL Draft, but in ESPN's eyes, he somehow isn't a top 10 wide receiver for the 2025 season. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound receiver is being compared to AJ Brown and told he will be the second wide receiver taken in the 2026 NFL Draft, but ESPN is telling him he isn't a top 10 wide receiver or a top 100 player in college football.
Like Brown, Bell is going to have a bit of an edge to him now as he enters the 2025 season. Bell is coming off his best season, where he earned 43 receptions and 757 receiving yards. The preseason All-ACC receiver is poised for a massive season, and when the 2025 season ends, Bell will be in ESPN's top 100 players.
Louisville doesn't get the hype it deserves. The reality is, if Brown were on an SEC or Big 10 team, ESPN would have him as the No. 3 best running back or maybe even No. 2, but because he is in the ACC and not Clemson or Miami, they have him as low as No. 45 in the nation and the No. 5 running back. And the same thing goes for Bell.
Brown and Bell are undoubtedly the two best players on this Cardinals team, which means they have to do all they can to help Louisville contend for an ACC Title and the College Football Playoffs. Brown being ranked No. 45 and Bell not being ranked at all will only motivate them to prove a point and play harder, and Louisville fans should be excited to see what they do in the 2025 season.
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For all the latest on Louisville football's offseason, stay tuned.