The Texas Longhorns had one of the best seasons in college football in 2024, which resulted in the No. 5 seed in the College Football Playoff.
However, despite what could end up as the best campaign for Texas football in 15 years, some unfortunate news about the program surfaced on Friday, Dec. 20, just hours before the first round of the CFP kicked off with a game between Notre Dame (7th seed) and Indiana (10th seed).
On3 Sports compiled transfer portal data on all 12 participants in the playoff, posting a graphic to X detailing which schools lost the most players to the transfer portal.
“College Football Playoff transfer portal departures,” On3 captioned the graphic.
Texas came in third on the list with nine players who transferred out of the program this month, though the Longhorns had the most transfers of any of the traditional powerhouses in the field.
Coming in first were the Arizona State Sun Devils, champions of the Big 12 Conference, with 12 transfer departures. The Boise State Broncos, who won the Mountain West Conference this year, fell into second place with 10 transfers.
Notre Dame, SMU and Clemson were all tied for the fewest transfer portal losses with three each.
Notre Dame, SMU and Clemson were all tied for the fewest transfer portal losses with three each.
Of course, part of the issue for teams like Texas is how much talent is on the roster. Some players who may end up successful in the NFL someday won’t be able to get on the field in the immediate future, which certainly has a good deal to do with why the 9 players in question bid the program adieu ahead of the new year.
However, losing those players on top of however many others head to the league in April could mean major turnover for Texas in the coming months. That will create more recruiting challenges/necessities and more coaching to gel the new roster ahead of the 2025 campaign.
