Even on opening weekend, football players at Clemson, LSU might be upstaged on campus by these furry friends

At colleges like and Clemson, football is king. And, especially this time of year, the BMOCs (Big Men On Campus) are usually the football players.

As the Tigers from both LSU and Clemson get set to tangle in Baton Rouge on Saturday to open the 2026 college football season, no ones more popular on their respective campuses than those BMOCs.

Except...

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What if some APOCs stroll across the Quad? (APOC: thats short for Adorable Puppies On Campus.)

LSU and Clemson have their fair share of APOCs, too.

While both schools may be well known for football, theyre also known for having an affinity for very special (and adorable) dogs. Both LSU and Clemson have clubs on campus that assist a national non-profit organization named Canine Companions with raising and training little puppies into full-fledged service dogs that are assigned to people in need.

Students on campus who are in the club volunteer to raise specially bred Labrador Retriever puppies for more than a year, teaching the sweet and adorable creatures commands, cues and social behavior.

So…a BMOC versus an APOC spotted in the wild on campus? Well, it might not be all that close as to which one will draw the most attention.

"When people see our dogs on campus, they always stop and say hi and ask to pet them and theyll want to know about our club," Clemson senior Brooke Knight, president of the Canine Companions club on campus said. "Theyll want to take pictures. Its just super cool to see people wanting to interact with us and the dogs."

The Clemson club has raised 15 dogs on campus since 2021. At LSU, the four-year-old club typically raises five dogs a year. Raisers are given approval to take their puppies to class, across campus, into every building and to events. The puppies at Clemson and LSU become part of the campus family, and, even though they are canines, they are essentially considered honorary "Tigers."

"It definitely makes you popular to walk around with a dog," said LSU sophomore and club president-elect Finley OCon, who will be getting her first puppy to raise in about two months. "You'll talk to 15 people just walking through the quad because they want to know: Why do you have a dog? What's the dog's name? Tell me about this club. Tell me about Canine Companions. And it's definitely really good advertisement to have a dog. "

"Raisers" undergo a comprehensive vetting process. They are typically assigned a puppy by Canine Companions around the 8-week mark of the puppys life, and theyll raise the puppy for the next 14 to 16 months.

College students, typically with no other dependents, are perfect to provide the puppies with a laser focus. They also happen to be in a great environment to expose the puppies to one of the biggest parts of this stage of their learning: socialization.

From quiet libraries, in which the raisers teach their puppies to settle under a table, to bustling quads, in which the raisers teach their puppies not to chase every person or squirrel, to a gathering or loud sporting event, in which the raisers teach their puppies how to be calm amidst the chaos, college campuses challenge the puppies with every possible stimuli and circumstance.

"Through Canine Companions, it is required that (raisers) attend at least two puppy classes a month.