Until Saturday Newsletter 🏈 | This is The Athletic’s college football newsletter. Sign up here to receive Until Saturday directly in your inbox.
Quick! Enter the transfer portal before it’s too late.
Closing Time
Spring transfer window wrapping up
The spring transfer window closes tonight. Players who wish to transfer must enter the portal by the end of the day today, although they don’t have to commit to their new teams by the deadline. Here’s a look at the programs with the top transfer classes as they stand now, per the 247Sports Composite:
- Ole Miss (18 commits, 1 five-star, 7 four-stars): The big get of this spring window was former Miami RB Henry Parrish Jr., who will be returning to Oxford after starting his career with the Rebels (No. 5 in Stewart Mandel’s too early top 25) in 2020.
- Texas A&M (27 commits, 8 four-stars): The Aggies brought in Kolinu’u Faaiu, who started eight games at center for Utah last season.
- Oregon (11 commits, 1 five-star, 5 four-stars): The Ducks lost DL Johnny Bowens III to the portal this spring but anchored a strong transfer class in the winter window with WR Evan Stewart from Texas A&M and DB Jabbar Muhammad from Washington.
- Alabama (12 commits, 1 five-star, 6 four-stars): New coach Kalen DeBoer brought along some of his talent from Washington, but the Crimson Tide’s biggest story this spring was bringing back T Kadyn Proctor, who originally transferred out of the program to Iowa.
- Florida State (15 commits, 10 four-stars): The Seminoles lost only three players to the portal this spring, including CB Greedy Vance Jr., who committed to USC.
More portal notes: After former Oregon State RB Damien Martinez committed to Miami during the weekend, former Arizona CB Tacario Davis took over the top spot in Max Olson’s best available rankings. The top four players still on Max’s list are defensive players while former Arizona State WR Elijhah Badger ranks fifth as the best available offensive player. Another major portal move was former Penn State WR KeAndre Lambert-Smith’s commitment to Auburn.
It’s likely news of player entries will carry over into tomorrow afternoon as more athletes announce their decisions publicly. The Athletic’s live blog will remain up to date with the latest.
Where Are They Now?
Looking back at Colorado’s reset
It has been hard to talk about the transfer portal in the past year without thinking of Deion Sanders’ portal exodus at Colorado. Max caught up with some of those Buffaloes who left (or were pushed out of) Sanders’ program to rehash their exits from Boulder and what has happened since then.
“It kind of felt like a reality TV show,” said Chase Sowell, who now plays at UTSA. Sowell described the culture last spring at Colorado as “us vs. them” between the players formerly there and the ones Sanders brought in as transfers.
In total, 53 scholarship players transferred from Colorado by the end of Sanders’ first spring. Meanwhile, 87 newcomers joined the Buffs. Categorized by league affiliations, most of Colorado’s transfers landed at Group of 5 programs.
- Power 5: 15
- Group of 5: 22
- FCS: 9
- Division II: 1
- Junior college: 2
- Unsigned/Out of football: 4
This spring, the Buffaloes have stayed busy in the portal, adding 34 players.
NFL Draft Recap
Most picks by college
With the NFL Draft officially behind us, let’s end with a recap of the picks and trends to know. Read Bruce Feldman’s full takeaways here.
- Michigan did not break Georgia’s picks record. The Wolverines’ 13 picks led all schools in the 2024 draft but did not beat Georgia’s 15 selections in 2022. Texas was second with 11 picks, followed by Alabama, Florida State and Washington, which each had 10.
- Speaking of the Longhorns, The Athletic’s Texpert, Sam Khan Jr., detailed the big weekend for Steve Sarkisian and company. Texas completely flipped the script from having zero players selected in the draft two years ago to 11 selections with two first-rounders (Byron Murphy II → Seahawks, Xavier Worthy → Chiefs) this year. Now, the program finally looks to be establishing stability, and it comes just in time before a move to the SEC this summer.
- Of course, I have to dedicate a takeaway to my hometown Chicago Bears. I was pumped to see Rome Odunze picked at No. 9. He was third on my Heisman ballot last winter and 80 percent of his catches last season resulted in a first down or touchdown. Of course, the Bears made it official with Caleb Williams, who I’m betting will overcome our bad luck at QB.
The Until Saturday podcast debates a fun college → NFL dilemma today. Last week, host Ari Wasserman asked: Do you still feel connected to your favorite players once they go to the NFL?
I don’t think the answer is black and white. As a Michigan State alum, I loved watching Kenneth Walker completely dominate in his rookie season with the Seahawks and reminding all of my friends that he was repping the Spartans. I’ll always root for the college stars I loved to succeed. But at the end of the day, I’m rooting for the team over the individual. Listen to the full debate on today’s podcast.
Group of 5 Playoff?
The results are split
Is it a good idea for the Group of 5 schools to branch off and form a playoff of their own? Here’s what readers responded to last week’s poll.
This vote was more split than I expected. I’d probably vote “yes.” I’m all for more postseason competition and could see the sport start to shift this way as College Football Playoff expansion and conference realignment evolve.
Quick Snaps
More from the transfer portal: QB Casey Thompson’s four-school journey includes playing for his former rivals to ending up back at his home state school. Read his story here.
How will Oklahoma football fare in the SEC? Seth Emerson answers that in today’s SEC mailbag.
Former five-star QB Dylan Raiola has completed his first spring at Nebraska. But what’s next? Mitch Sherman reports from Lincoln.
Speaking of QBs, Antonio Morales updates us on where things stand with the top prospects in the 2025 class.
You can buy tickets to every college football game here.
Enjoy this? Sign up for our other newsletters! Scoop City 🏈 | The Bounce 🏀 | Full Time ⚽ | The Windup ⚾ | Prime Tire 🏁 | The Pulse 📣
(Photo of Lane Kiffin: Todd Kirkland / Getty Images)
