The 2024 transfer portal classes that could impact the new 12-team College Football Playoff field
We’re mere months away from the inaugural season of the 12-team College Football Playoff, where more schools than ever will have realistic hopes of cracking the expanded field to battle for a national title.
According to ESPN’s FPI projections, 18 programs have greater than a 20% chance to make the CFP this year — nearly 1.5X than just last season. When you add in the possible Group of 5 contenders, plus the power conference champs and the teams capable of vying for an at-large berth, some 30-ish programs could be in the mix for a spot come December.
And thanks to the transfer portal, more and more teams have aggressively turned over their rosters in an effort to chase a championship.
Last year, Michigan and Washington used double-digit transfers to get to the title game, while playoff semifinalists Alabama (Trey Amos, Jaylen Key, among others) and Texas (AD Mitchell) had portal additions play critical roles, too.
With more movement than ever this offseason, the transfer portal should have an even great impact on the CFP field — even if the national championship picture probably includes the same small pool of schools.
So which 2024 portal classes could have the most impact on this year’s expanded playoff field? Let’s
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The National Title Favorites
Georgia, Ohio State, Texas, Oregon, Alabama
The preseason quintet of 2024 title favorites all made moves — some more significant than others — in the portal this offseason.
The Bulldogs spiced up their offense with key additions like tailback Trevor Etienne (Florida), tight end Ben Yurosek (Stanford) and wideout Colbie Young (Miami), while Alabama inked two of the top offensive linemen (former Tide tackle Kadyn Proctor and Washington center Parker Brailsford) and a No. 1 wideout (Germie Bernard).
Ohio State used the portal like a luxury furniture store, adding the fanciest sectional (5-star safety Caleb Downs), coffee table (quarterback Will Howard) and bookcase (tailback Quinshon Judkins) to a mansion that pretty much already had everything.
Then there’s Oregon and Texas, who capitalized on their deep pockets to lure some of the best talent in portal to their schools. They each landed seven blue-chip transfers (tied for the most nationally). The Ducks got the top QB (Dillon Gabriel), the No. 1 wideout (Evan Stewart) and a host of likely defensive starters, while the Longhorns signed a brand new receiver room, a top-flight pass rusher (Trey Moore) and more defensive depth.
All five championship contenders cemented their elite status using the portal this offseason. Perhaps one former program in this camp could take notice (read on for more on that later).
The ACC Contenders
Florida State, Miami and NC State
Mike Norvell is looking to retain his title of the real Portal King, as Florida State set up a satellite school for ex-Alabama signees in Tallahassee. Five of the Noles’ 17 transfers came from Alabama, while former 5-star edge Marvin Jones Jr. is hoping to become Jermaine Johnson 2.0 after leaving Georgia for a bigger role at FSU.
Also of note: Is the third school the charm for DJ Uiagalelei to finally fulfill his recruiting promise?
Mario Cristobal did what Mario Cristobal does best — land elite talent — and if he can coach them up half as well as he can recruit them then Miami could legitimately win the ACC and make the CFP in 2024. The Canes signed 15 transfers, almost all of whom project to start including quarterback Cam Ward, tailback Damien Martinez and their latest addition edge/end Tyler Baron.
Then there’s NC State, which hasn’t won 10 games yet under Dave Doren but could have a breakthrough season thanks to one of the most underrated portal hauls in the country. The Wolfpack totally retooled their offense led by former Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall.
The Didn’t Do Enough Bunch
I’ve written columns on all three programs’ failures to properly address specific team-needs this offseason.
Sherrone Moore is playing with a bit of house money in Year 1 and deserves credit for keeping the foundation of Michigan’s roster in tact, but not adding a proven playmaker or any offensive line depth could be the difference on the margins when comparing the Wolverines’ roster to Ohio State or Oregon.
LSU and USC are in similar camps because both teams tried to fill key holes on their teams, but they simply swung and missed on top targets. The Tigers brought in all sorts of defensive linemen for visits, only to see the likes of Damonic Williams (Oklahoma), Michigan State‘s Simeon Barrow (Miami) and Michigan State’s Derrick Harmon (Oregon) end up elsewhere.
USC had even worse luck recruiting both offensive and defensive linemen.
Although both programs did add some quality transfers (namely wideout CJ Daniels for LSU, former UCLA defensive backs John Humphrey and Kamari Ramsey for USC), it wasn’t enough when compared to the hauls of their peers.
The Program That Abstains
I like grocery shopping at Whole Foods. It’s well-organized, clean and has top-quality products. It’s the best grocery store, in my opinion. But if they’re ever out of pineapple or the chocolate milk I like, I’ll happily go to Publix or Trader Joes to get what I need.
Well, Dabo Swinney shops exclusively at Whole Foods and then willingly deprives himself if they don’t have exactly what he needs. He could easily drive down the road and solve that problem, but that would be an affront to Whole Foods, who he believes exclusively deserves business. No one is asking Swinney to boycott one grocery store for another, but alas.
In a related note, Clemson is the only power conference program not to sign a single transfer in 2024. Not one offensive lineman. Not a single wideout. Nothing, which is why the Tigers probably won’t make the playoffs.
The All-In Squads
The Rebels and Tigers are hoping to hit a full house this fall, going punch-drunk on portal additions this offseason in a year where they both return valuable veterans with (by SEC standards) very favorable schedules.
Ole Miss essentially recruited a mercenary defense (headlined by tackle Walter Nolan (Texas A&M) and pass rusher Princely Umanmielen (Florida), plus restocked their running back (five transfers) and receiver (four) rooms. Chances are, Lane Kiffin probably signed a player from a team you or one of your buddies roots for — as 24 different schools represent the Rebels’ 25 transfers.
Missouri wasn’t as aggressive as Ole Miss in the portal, but like Kiffin, Eli Drinkwitz is aiming to seize on last season’s momentum with his best team yet in Columbia. The Tigers used their burgeoning NIL budget to secure one of the best offensive linemen in the portal (Oklahoma transfer Cayden Green), as well as land a new two-deep front-seven (eight linebackers or defensive linemen) and a 1,000-yard rusher (Georgia State’s Marcus Carroll) to replace Cody Schrader.
The SEC Spoilers
Oklahoma, Texas A&M and Auburn
The Sooners, Aggies and Tigers all have win totals between 7.5-8.5, so none of them are expected to crack the 12-team field this fall. And yet, thanks to their strong work in the portal, all three SEC programs could scare — or outright beat — any team on their schedule in 2024.
Oklahoma inked a brand new offensive line from the portal (five signees), plus a game-breaker at receiver (Purdue’s Deion Burks). The Aggies might’ve landed the best pure pass rusher available (Purdue’s Nic Scourton) and another 26 newcomers to offset the mass attrition following Jimbo Fisher’s firing (29 departures).
Auburn opted to stand-pat at quarterback, which likely caps the ceiling for Hugh Freeze’s team in Year 2, but the Tigers did yeoman’s work to the rest of the roster — upgrading at defensive line, wideout, offensive tackle and safety.
The SEC trio is going to hand out some losses to playoff-hopeful teams that could shake up how the field ultimately comes together.
The Wildcards
What do the Vols and Hokies have in common in 2024?
They’re both around the 5th or 6th-best team in their respective conferences, per most preseason rankings, but have the upside to be in the Top-3 in the league if they get the right breaks and hit on some of their transfer signees.
While Tennessee only brought in 10 transfers, it completely turned over its secondary and landed one of the premier offensive linemen in former 5-star recruit Zalance Heard. Va. Tech was similarly selective (just seven transfers), but guys like tackle, Aaneas Peebles (Duke), edge Kelvin Gilliam (Oklahoma) and end Khurtiss Perry (Alabama) figure to have key roles on a potential Top-15 defense.
The Hokies have a cake schedule, while Tennessee plays most of its hardest games in Neyland Stadium, so while both programs signed smaller classes than many of their competitors if they supplemented their needs correctly, they could soar up the conference standings and compete for a playoff spot.
The Big 12 Chaos Teams
Utah (wideout Dorian Singer), Kansas State (tailback Dylan Edwards) and Arizona (edge Tre Smith) all added double-digit transfers this cycle including several marquee signees at positions of need, but in what’s likely to be a wacky and wide-open Big 12, the most impactful classes will come from schools elsewhere in the conference.
Barring another Cinderella run, neither the Horned Frogs, nor the Knights or Buffs will win the Big 12 this fall, but their massive transfer portal hauls could have a say in who does — or doesn’t.
TCU inked 23 transfers, and UCF signed 24. Those numbers rank 3rd and 4th in the league, but pale in comparison to the 41 newcomers Colorado is welcoming to its program.
Deion Sanders essentially signed a brand new defense — a two-deep front-seven and plus a new secondary to pair with star corner Travis Hunter — a starting offensive line and tailback (Ohio State’s Dallan Hayden). If the pieces come together, maybe the Buffs can stun a team or two like K-State or Oklahoma State to alter the league standings. Or maybe the massive roster overhaul proves to be a flimsy bandaid again and the Colorado just gets rolled in Big 12 play again and those teams get to pick up an easy ‘W.’ Either way, they’ll be an impactful bunch.
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