2026 Super Bowl by College: Alabama, LSU Lead Among Patriots, Seahawks Players

NFL teams have different roads to the Super Bowl, perhaps best epitomized by which colleges the players from both teams went to.

Here's where starters for the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks played in college and where schools and conferences across college football stack up against each other:

New England Patriots starters

Offense

• QB Drake Maye – North Carolina
• RB Rhamondre Stevenson – Oklahoma
• RB TreVeyon Henderson – Ohio State
• FB Jack Westover – Washington
• WR Stefon Diggs – Maryland
• WR Kayshon Boutte – LSU
• WR Demario Douglas – Liberty
• TE Hunter Henry – Arkansas
• TE Austin Hooper – Stanford
• OT Will Campbell – LSU
• OG Jared Wilson – Georgia
• C Garrett Bradbury – NC State
• OG Mike Onwenu – Michigan
• OT Morgan Moses – Virginia

Defense

• DT Christian Barmore – Alabama
• NT Khyiris Tonga – BYU
• DT Milton Williams – Louisiana Tech
• LB K'Lavon Chaisson – LSU
• LB Harold Landry III – Boston College
• LB Robert Spillane – Western Michigan
• LB Christian Elliss – Idaho
• CB Carlton Davis III – Auburn
• CB Christian Gonzalez – Oregon
• S Jaylinn Hawkins – California
• S Craig Woodson – California

Special teams

• K Andy Borregales – Miami
• P Bryce Baringer – Michigan State
• LS Julian Ashby – Vanderbilt
• KR Kyle Williams – Washington State
• PR Marcus Jones – Houston

Seattle Seahawks starters

Offense

• QB Sam Darnold – USC
• RB Kenneth Walker III – Michigan State
• (Injured) RB Zach Charbonnet – UCLA
• FB Robbie Ouzts – Alabama
• WR Jaxson Smith-Njigba – Ohio State
• WR Cooper Kupp – Eastern Washington
• WR/Returner Rashid Shaheed – Weber State
• TE AJ Barner – Michigan
• TE Eric Saubert – Drake
• OT Charles Cross – Mississippi State
• OG Grey Zabel – North Dakota State
• C Jalen Sundell – North Dakota State
• OG Anthony Bradford – LSU
• OT Abraham Lucas – Washington State

Defense

• DT Leonard Williams – USC
• NT Byron Murphy II – Texas
• DE Demarcus Lawrence – Boise State
• LB Derick Hall – Auburn
• LB Ernest Jones IV – South Carolina
• LB Drake Thomas – NC State
• LB Uchenna Nwosu – USC
• CB Devon Witherspoon – Illinois
• CB Josh Jobe – Alabama
• S Coby Bryant – Cincinnati
• S Julian Love – Notre Dame
• S Nick Emmanwori – South Carolina

Special teams

• K Jason Myers – Marist
• P Michael Dickson – Texas
• LS Chris Stoll – Penn State

Overall player count by school (total players from both teams)

• Alabama – 7
• LSU – 5
• Michigan – 4
• USC – 4
• Ohio State – 3
• Texas – 3
• Auburn – 3
• Illinois – 3
• Minnesota – 3
• NC State – 3
• Miami – 2
• Penn State – 2
• Notre Dame – 2
• Michigan State – 2
• OIe Miss – 2
• Missouri – 2
• North Carolina – 2
• South Carolina – 2
• North Dakota State – 2
• Houston – 2
• Washington State – 2
• Boise State – 2
• California – 2
• Eastern Washington – 2
• Georgia – 1
• Oklahoma – 1
• Oregon – 1
• Tennessee – 1
• Iowa – 1
• BYU – 1
• Stanford – 1
• Utah – 1
• Washington – 1
• Mississippi State – 1
• Arkansas – 1
• SMU – 1
• Virginia – 1
• Vanderbilt – 1
• Boston College – 1
• Memphis – 1
• Cincinnati – 1
• Oregon State – 1
• Montana – 1
• Montana State – 1
• Hawaii – 1
• Colorado – 1
• Maryland – 1
• Purdue – 1
• Western Michigan – 1
• UTSA – 1
• UConn – 1
• UTEP – 1
• Wyoming – 1
• Weber State – 1
• Troy – 1
• UCF – 1
• Louisiana Tech – 1
• Cal Poly – 1
• Sacramento State – 1
• Drake – 1
• Idaho – 1
• Liberty – 1
• Lenoir Rhyne – 1
• Marist – 1

Overall player count by conference (total players from both teams)

• SEC – 30
• Big Ten – 25
• ACC – 14
• FCS or lower – 13
• Big 12 – 7
• Mountain West – 4
• Conference USA – 3
• Independent – 3
• Pac-12 – 3
• American – 2
• Sun Belt – 1
• MAC – 1