Depending on who you talk to, the NCAA transfer portal is either the greatest thing to happen to college football, or the worst.
Player movement is at an all-time high due to the portal, and this offseason saw some of the best in the sport switch teams.
It is an understatement to say that transfers have played key roles at BYU, Utah and Utah State. The Utes and Aggies wouldn’t have won their respective conferences this past season without transfers, nor would BYU have won 10 games in consecutive years.
In a recent Q&A with The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said, “I would say overall, from the advent of the portal till now, we have come out on the plus side of that ledger. We’ve benefited more than we’ve lost.”
For all the good that the portal has wrought, though, there have always been questions about what happens to the majority of players who transfer. Where do they end up? Do their football careers continue?
On Tuesday morning, Rivals, one of the major national recruiting services, answered a few of those questions.
Via its transfer portal specific Twitter account, Rivals released transfer portal statistics for each Power Five conference, including what percentage of players have transferred to Power Five schools, to Group of Five schools, to FCS and Division II schools, as well as how many players currently remain in the transfer portal without a home.
Here are the numbers (data is based on players who entered the portal after Aug. 1, 2021):
ACC
- 71.6% found new schools.
- 40.6% of players committed to P5 schools.
- 40.6% of players committed to G5 schools.
- 18.8% of players committed to FCS/DII schools.
- 47 players remain in portal.
Big Ten
- 68% found new schools.
- 36.2% of players committed to P5 schools.
- 46.6% of players committed to G5 schools.
- 17.2% of players committed to FCS/DII schools.
- 57 players remain in portal.
Big 12
- 61.3% found new schools.
- 41.8% of players committed to P5 schools.
- 38.8% of players committed to G5 schools.
- 19.4% of players committed to FCS/DII schools.
- 46 players remain in portal.
Pac-12
- 56.2% found new schools.
- 51.2% of players committed to P5 schools.
- 30.9% of players committed to G5 schools.
- 17.9% of players committed to FCS/DII schools.
- 63 players remain in portal.
SEC
- 73% found new schools.
- 48.8% of players committed to P5 schools.
- 36.2% of players committed to G5 schools.
- 15% of players committed to FCS/DII schools.
- 49 players remain in portal.