College football is changing with the transfer portal certainly among the elements that has led to a dynamic shift in the sports landscape. Big Ten football teams seem to have learned firsthand the importance of the transfer portal after the rise of Michigan State last year.
The 2022 Spartans, in their second year under Mel Tucker, completed an overhaul of the program by going 11-2 and winning the Peach Bowl. In 2021, Michigan State was just 2-5.
The transfer portal, fueled by the addition of Kenneth Walker II from Wake Forest, turned Michigan State into one of the top programs in the Big Ten last year.
As such, winning the recruiting battles in the transfer portal is huge for programs, especially rebuilding ones.
According to 247Sports, Nebraska won the transfer portal this year in the Big Ten. The site used a formula based on the average stars of players and the size of their incoming transfer portal class.
As such, Nebraska, because of their 16 commits from the transfer portal (the most in the Big Ten), top the 247Sports list.
If the rankings were done purely on average stars of the transfer players, then the top five transfer portal incoming recruiting classes in the Big Ten would be:
- 5. Rutgers (87.00 average, six commits)
- 4. Michigan State (89.00 average, 10 commits)
- 3. Penn State (90.00 average, three commits)
- 2. Michigan (90.50 average, three commits)
- 1. Ohio State (91.00 average, three commits
This might be the most accurate to look at the talent coming in, but in terms of addressing needs and adding talent, it certainly looks like Nebraska and Michigan State made a big impact this offseason for their football teams in the transfer portal.
Scroll down to check out how the Big Ten stacks up in the transfer portal rankings according to 247Sports!