Transfer portal recruits are a gamechanger in modern college sports, and the upcoming Big 12 football season will embody exactly how.
The 16-team conference has a new look this season, and with that comes a new look within individual programs. Teams like Colorado, who enter the Big 12 for the first time, have completely changed their personnel, while others like Baylor are filling essential offensive positions to become competitive.
Regardless of the reasoning or approach to using the portal, Big 12 teams are making use of it, including West Virginia, who will play a 13-player transfer portal class that includes plenty of defensive star power.
For those who do not follow college football much past what they see on the field, some teams’ identity changes will be jarring in 2024. This will especially be the case for those simultaneously changed by the portal and conference realignment.
For the four teams joining the Big 12, a new era will be met with new personnel and, in some cases, brand new expectations. These are the key changes for the new Big 12 teams looking to capitalize on this new era of college football.
Arizona
Arizona adds 24 players to account for 28 departures this season. While losing three defensive linemen to the portal, the Wildcats will also gain four, with several edge rushers joining the team as well.
Offensively, unproven star power highlights Arizona’s recruiting class, with players like running back Kedrick Reescano coming to the team from Ole Miss after being used exclusively in special teams as a freshman. Reescano is a four-star recruit according to 247Sports and will be redshirted at Arizona.
More importantly, though, Arizona adds tight end Sam Olson and wide receiver Reymello Murphy to its starting lineup from the transfer portal. Olson caught 22 receptions for 310 yards and three touchdowns last season at San José State while Murhpy caught 28 for 502 yards and three touchdowns as a freshman at Old Dominion.
Arizona State
The Sun Devils join the Big 12 after a 3-9 season in the Pac-12. With that in mind, recruitment, whether from the transfer portal or high school football, restaffs much of the team this season, with an almost entirely new lineup in the special teams and several potential starters on both offense and defense.
6-foot-four, 285-pound junior tight end Markeston Douglas joins Arizona State from Florida State and will be an essential target for redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt, who comes to the team from Michigan State. Douglas caught 11 receptions in six games for 136 yards and two touchdowns last season. Leavitt completed 15 of 23 pass attempts across his four appearances at Michigan State. He threw for 139 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Alongside the change in who is running the offense and how, Arizona State added some big names to its defensive secondary in cornerbacks Laterrance Welch from LSU and Javan Robinson from Washington State and nickel back Cole Martin from Oregon. The young trio will look to reshape Arizona State’s defensive identity alongside its new pair of linebackers Keyshaun Elliott and Zyrus Flaseu, also acquired in the portal.
Colorado
After a player overhaul in 2023 led to a disappointing Pac-12 campaign, head coach Deion Sanders has opted to rinse and repeat for 2024. The Buffaloes lost 41 players in the transfer portal this season and will be gaining 42, including a brand new offensive line.
Senior defensive linemen Dayon Hayes and B.J. Green will also be new names to watch in the Big 12 this season, as they transfer to Colorado from Pittsburgh and Arizona State respectively. Ultimately, though, no position went untouched in Colorado’s rebuild for this season, making the Buffaloes a must-watch team early in the season, just to see how they gel.
Utah
Losing 28 compared to its gained 15 players, Utah was not treated the nicest by the transfer portal this season, but after going 8-5 in the Pac-12, the Utes have a chance to improve different aspects of their play as members of the Big 12.
Easily the biggest addition for the Utes will be senior wide receiver Dorian Singer, who joins Utah after two seasons at Arizona and one, most recently, at USC. With the Trojans, Singer caught 24 receptions for 289 yards and three touchdowns in 11 games. One season before that, Singer caught 66 receptions as a Wildcat for 1,105 yards and six touchdowns on the year.
Outside of Singer, though, Utah adds very little to its roster for the upcoming season. Considering its dismal passing game last season, though, the addition will be an essential one to reshaping the entirety of the Utes as members of the Big 12.
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