College football’s landscape changes by the minute, it seems. Every year brings head coaching changes, schools switching conferences, and of course, student-athletes transferring to different schools for the possibility of landing a nice NIL (Names, Image and Likeness) deal. Programs have to think creatively to use alumni networks, local businesses and others. In turn, the student has to want to stay to reap the rewards, otherwise the transfer portal is an option. Some programs know how to use that portal well and make it a seamless process, while others are still learning how to navigate and implement it.
We are three years into the new college football offseason system of the transfer portal and some teams have utilized it to great success. BetCalifornia.com, where you can keep track of ongoing efforts to legalize California sports betting, checked On3.com’s Transfer Portal Team Rankings from 2022 to 2024. We used that data to assemble this list of the 10 programs that have best taken advantage of the transfer over the past three offseason periods. The 2024 rankings are as of Jan. 10 at noon Eastern.
Most Successful Teams In Transfer Portal
Los Angeles Tempting Home For Transfers
California’s two biggest public universities, USC (fourth) and UCLA (10th), landed within the top 10 on our list. Both schools are also making the transition from the Pac-12 to the Big 10 starting with the 2024 fall sports season.
USC was one of four schools to have a Combined Index Score of over 100, with 108 points, at the On3.com website. Back in 2022, the Trojans had the second highest score of 41 and followed that in 2023 with 57 points, the third-highest score.
A key transfer to the USC program in 2024 will be UNLV redshirt freshman quarterback Jayden Maiava, who committed to the school on Jan. 9. Maiava took the Rebels to their first-ever Mountain West Championship Game last season; he threw for 3,085 yards and 17 touchdowns on the season including 291 yards and three TDs in a 49-36 loss to Kansas in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl on Dec. 27.
The Trojans begin the 2024 season at the Vegas Kickoff Classic versus LSU at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas at 4:30 p.m. Pacific time on Sept. 1.
As for UCLA, it rounded out the top 10 in the On3 Index Score over the three-year span we studied, with 55 points, three behind No 9 Florida State (58). As of Jan 11, five key players have transferred to UCLA including Notre Dame freshman wide receiver Rico Flores, Oregon senior cornerback Bryan Addison and Miami Fla. freshman EDGE Collins Acheampong. Under head coach Chip Kelly, the Bruins (8-5) will open their 2024 season on Aug. 31 at Hawaii in Honolulu.
The UCLA-USC rivalry’s shift to the Big Ten will give fans a whole slew of new matchups; if legal California sportsbook promos were offered, the 2024 college football season would draw great interest.
