<
>
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Get ESPN+

College football transfer portal: Lessons from latest cycle

DJ Uiagalelei has moved from Clemson to Oregon State to Florida State. Melina Myers-USA TODAY Sports

The wildest transfer portal cycle that college football has ever seen officially came to an end on Aug. 1.

The NCAA's transfer database has reset for a new calendar year. Teams' 2024 rosters are set. Preseason camps are well underway. We're mere weeks away from witnessing the impact of all the high-profile players who switched schools this offseason.

The 2023-24 transfer portal cycle, the sixth year of college programs utilizing the portal, should dramatically influence the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff race, but the effects of this record-setting cycle are sure to be more far-reaching than just a few title contenders becoming far more loaded.

After studying every FBS transfer transaction of the past 12 months and tracking where each player ended up, here are 10 things we learned.

Jump to a topic:
Total players moving | Jumping to Power 4
Schools that lost the most | Schools that retained the most
QBs | Repeat transfers

1. More than 2,700 on the move

In April, the NCAA officially eliminated its one-time transfer rule and initiated a new era of unlimited transfers. That mid-cycle policy change made it easier for more players to make moves and for schools to move on from underperforming talent. The result? For the second year in a row, FBS scholarship transfers increased by 18%.

More than 2,800 FBS scholarship players entered their names into the NCAA's transfer database during the 2023-24 school year. When you remove those who withdrew or went pro, the final total was 2,707 transfers.