The matchup is set for the 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship, with the Michigan Wolverines and Washington Huskies set to do battle on Jan. 8 after picking up wins in the Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl, respectively.
For every other team in the nation, the focus has shifted to the 2024 season.
The transfer portal will lead to plenty of roster shake-up in the coming weeks and months, so it’s going to be some time before the college football landscape fully takes shape for next season.
However, it’s never too early to start looking ahead to some of the top title contenders for next season, based on returning talent, rising young players poised to step into bigger roles and new faces.
The following seven teams look like the early favorites in 2024.
Failing to reach the College Football Playoff title game won’t keep the Alabama Crimson Tide from ranking among the favorites to hoist that trophy in 2024.
The return of quarterback Jalen Milroe gives them a rising star at the quarterback position after he went from being benched early in the season to finishing sixth in Heisman Trophy voting thanks to a terrific second half. He finished with 2,834 passing yards and 23 touchdowns, to go along with 531 rushing yards and another 12 scores on the ground.
The 2024 roster around Milroe will take shape in the coming weeks as a talented group of upperclassmen make NFL decisions, and for almost any player who chooses to leave there is a highly regarded up-and-comer waiting for their shot.
The biggest losses will come on the defensive side of the ball where linebacker Dallas Turner and cornerbacks Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold are all likely to hear their names called in the first round of the 2024 draft.
The Georgia Bulldogs missed the College Football Playoff field in 2023, but the talent pipeline is still flowing and the next wave of former 5-star recruits is waiting in the wings to step into key roles.
They will have stability under center with Carson Beck returning following a 3,941-yard, 24-touchdown performance in his first year as starter, and that goes a long way in today’s age of transfer portal wheeling and dealing.
He will be joined by running back Trevor Etienne, who transferred from Florida after tallying 753 rushing yards and 5.7 yards per carry in 11 games.
With the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation in 2023, and the No. 1 class incoming in 2024, there is a wealth of rising talent on the roster. Next year’s freshman class will be headlined by cornerback Ellis Robinson IV, linebacker Justin Williams and safety KJ Bolden, who were all the top recruits at their respective positions.
The Missouri Tigers have a lot of offensive production to replace with star running back Cody Schrader off to the NFL after tallying 1,627 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns to finish eighth in Heisman Trophy voting.
His replacement was found through the transfer portal in Georgia State standout Marcus Carroll. He had a strong season of his own in 2023 with 1,350 yards and 13 touchdowns, including 87 yards and a touchdown in a major conference matchup against LSU.
Meanwhile, quarterback Brady Cook will return following a breakout season in which he threw for 3,317 yards and 21 touchdowns.
An equally important factor in the team’s rise to national prominence has been a vastly improved defense that has taken significant strides forward in two years under defensive coordinator Blake Baker.
With Kyle McCord transferring to Syracuse following a productive but ultimately disappointing season, the Ohio State Buckeyes will first and foremost need to address who will be leading the offense.
Incoming 5-star freshman Air Noland is a potential candidate, but they will almost certainly reel in an experienced veteran through the transfer portal. Will Howard (Kansas State) is trending as the leading candidate.
Running back TreVeyon Henderson (1,155 total yards, 11 TD) and wide receiver Emeka Egbuka (41 receptions, 515 yards, 4 TD) are two of the more compelling NFL decisions on the roster, and if both return it will be a huge boon to the offensive attack.
On the defensive side of the ball, linemen Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau and Tyleik Williams, as well as cornerback Denzel Burke, are also candidates to return. If the Buckeyes roster takes a stance of having unfinished business and returns a wave of experienced talent, they could once again climb to the top of the Big Ten.
The Ole Miss Rebels have college football’s top-ranked transfer class, and that should go a long way in helping to plug the holes on a team that finished 11-2 and beat Penn State in the Peach Bowl.
The defense will benefit most from the transfer haul, with defensive lineman Walter Nolan (Texas A&M), edge-rushers Princely Umanmielen (Florida) and Tyler Baron (Tennessee), and cornerback Decamerion Richardson (Mississippi State) and linebacker Chris Paul Jr. (Arkansas) all capable of making an immediate impact.
Offensively, quarterback Jaxson Dart will return after throwing for 3,364 yards with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions. Running back Quinshon Judkins is also leaning toward returning after piling up 1,158 yards and 15 touchdowns.
The Rebels could be serious contenders in the new-look SEC in 2024.
In my final quarterback rankings of the 2023 season, Oregon star Bo Nix claimed the No. 2 spot on the list, behind only LSU standout and Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.
Just behind that duo in the No. 3 spot was Dillon Gabriel, and he will now serve as Nix’s replacement under center for the Ducks after transferring for the second time in his college career. After throwing for 3,660 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2023, he is poised to take aim at the college record books and will enter 2024 ranked inside the top 10 all-time in passing yards (14,865, eighth) and passing touchdowns (125, eighth).
The wide receiver room will still be well-stocked, even if Tez Johnson decides to make the jump to the NFL, so expect another high-powered offense in Eugene.
Defensively, the team took a huge step forward in the second year under head coach Dan Lanning, who served as defensive coordinator at Georgia. The team allowed just 16.5 points per contest, and that should continue to be a strength in the coming years.
The quarterback position is going to be a compelling storyline for the Texas Longhorns heading into the offseason following their Sugar Bowl loss to Washington.
It was reported in early December that incumbent quarterback Quinn Ewers was “likely” to return, but he remained non-committal in subsequent weeks. If he decides to jump ship for the NFL, the keys to the offense will almost certainly be turned over to hyped up-and-comer Arch Manning.
NFL decisions from running back Jonathon Brooks and tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders will play a major role in shaping the offense’s outlook, though the offensive line should be a strength with plenty of experience.
Defensively, there is work to do in the portal plugging some holes, but the Longhorns also have some talented pieces capable of taking a step forward. They allowed 18.9 points per contest in 2023, and making the leap to the SEC will put them to the test.
