USC Holds No. 1 Spot in 2023 Team Transfer Portal Rankings
USC head coach Lincoln Riley is putting together another master class in utilizing the transfer portal this offseason. While the portal doesn’t exactly have a long history to draw from, no coach has worked it over these past to offseasons to the same degree of success as Riley.
Following three commitments out of the portal over the past few weeks, the Trojans now sit at No. 1 in the 2023 On3 Transfer Portal Team Rankings.
The rankings look at how well a team has helped itself using the transfer portal during the offseason, giving teams an Index Score based on the On3 average performance rating of players leaving and players arriving via the portal.
USC’s Index Score of 66 this offseason is well clear of No. 2 Colorado, with 57. Colorado and head coach Deion Sanders have dominated talk of the transfer portal this offseason. The Buffaloes have reshaped their roster to a degree unthinkable in college football prior to the transfer portal. A staggering 57 players have left Boulder via the portal this offseason, with 39 newcomers arriving. USC, by comparison, has seen 42 players go and 33 arrive over two offseasons.
This transfer portal class for USC saw its latest addition come in over the weekend. Former four-star defensive back prospect Tre’Quon Fegans announced his commitment to the Trojans following an official visit.
He’s the third commitment for USC following the Trojans’ spring game and conclusion of spring practice. He joins offensive lineman Emmanuel Pregnon from Wyoming and defensive lineman Bear Alexander from Georgia in giving the Trojans now 14 transfer portal additions this offseason. USC was ranked No. 5 in the transfer portal rankings before Alexander’s commitment in late-April.
While 14 transfers sounds significant, it’s not an excessive number compared to some of the hauls nationally. Colorado is going to lap the field, clearly. But Arizona State is at 27 transfer portal additions. Louisville has 19 so far. Houston (18), Cal (16), Ole Miss (16), Arkansas (15), Auburn (15) Michigan State (15) and Oklahoma (15) also have more than USC.
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But nobody can touch the Trojans when it comes to the quality of the additions. Of USC’s 14 transfers, nine are four-star transfer portal prospects. Colorado has the only five-star transfer in two-way standout Travis Hunter. But the Buffaloes have just five total four and five-star transfers. Ole Miss is second, behind USC, with seven four-star additions. But the Rebels lost two four-star to the portal and Colorado lost one.
USC Continuing its 2022 Success
USC finished No. 2 in the 2022 On3 Transfer Portal Team Rankings. It was a distant second behind Ole Miss. Of course, a big reason for that was two of USC’s most talented players — quarterback Jaxson Dart and tight end Michael Trigg — moving from USC to Mississippi.
But the quality of player USC added via the portal this offseason is evident in the Average Performance Rating of the newcomers. The 86.57 mark posted by USC right now is No. 3 behind Alabama and Georgia. Though, those programs have added just three transfers each, skewing the numbers a bit.
Florida State, at 83.00, is the next-closest program of those with at least double-digit transfer additions.
