The transfer portal went into full swing last week, with several big names looking for new homes in 2023. On3’s transfer portal rankings offer insights on early trends cropping up this season.
Unexpected teams at the top
Through Wednesday morning, Duke had the best value added in the transfer portal and thus earned the top spot in On3’s transfer portal rankings. The majority of the teams in the top five make it look more like a college basketball poll. UCLA, Utah, Florida State and Kansas round out the top five.
Texas A&M at the bottom
The Aggies needs to call a fire station. Texas A&M is last in the transfer portal rankings, with 21 players in the portal — the most in college football. Texas A&M went from kings of NIL last season to drawing nil as far as incoming transfer portal recruits through the first week.
Colorado players heeded Deion Sanders’ advice
Colorado’s new head coach told players to consider testing the transfer portal because of an influx of talent on the way. Nine players have taken him up on that advice. “Prime Time” didn’t lie to his new team, as he landed a champion in his first transfer portal signing: tight end Champion Johnson from Cal.
Teams with new coaches have many transfers
It’s not uncommon for administrations to change the entire coaching staff when letting go of a head coach. In the transfer portal era, expect more players to follow coaches out the door. Wisconsin, Georgia Tech, Nebraska, Stanford, Louisville and Auburn made changes at head coach this offseason. From those teams, 67 players are in the transfer portal. Of the teams with new regimes in place, only Matt Rhule and Nebraska have a commit in place, long snapper Marco Ortiz.
SEC exodus
Texas A&M has plenty of company from within its conference at the bottom of the transfer portal rankings. Florida, Ole Miss, Alabama, Vanderbilt, Auburn and LSU have many players testing the market. In total, SEC schools have 159 players in the portal. Is a shift in the balance of power coming to the sport?
No one should get her or his hopes up. Of the 10 teams with the best incoming freshmen, five are in the SEC, with two more — Oklahoma and Texas — on the way, per 24/7 Sports.
