No. 25 Program Jumps to No. 1 in Updated Transfer Portal Rankings

No other program in college football has dominated the sport, nor so surprising so, in the last season than Indiana, and much of that success has come on the back of some aggressive and very productive work by the school in the transfer portal.

Curt Cignetti is on a 27-2 run over his two seasons leading the Hoosiers program, culminating in his leading an historic 16-0 run last fall that led to the school’s first ever national championship, with some elite transfer players leading that charge.

Hoosiers jump in new rankings

As such, when it came time to re-rank college football’s most prodigious transfer portal classes over that previous offseason, the logic around propelling Indiana up much further than they had been before seemed only too obvious.

That was the consensus of opinion from analysts at The Athletic, which had no issue propelling Indiana to the No. 1 position in the newly updated 2025 transfer portal rankings, a generous improvement from their prior No. 25 ranking by 247Sports.

Fernando leads the charge

No. 25 Program Jumps to No. 1 in College Football Transfer Portal Rankings — Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Many of those 23 players who chose Cignetti’s program as transfers were responsible for the school’s national title run.

But none more so than quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who landed in Bloomington from Cal and went on to have a brilliant season that culminated in his being named the Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 pick in this year’s NFL Draft to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Mendoza was a natural fit for the Hoosiers’ offense, leading what became college football’s third-ranked scoring attack averaging nearly 42 points per game, stacking up over 3,500 yards passing with 41 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions.

Other transfers helped IU

Mendoza rightly gets most of the headlines when considering Indiana’s recent run, but other names also played a role in helping the program to its historic heights.

Running back Roman Hemby was one such contributor, coming off a three-year run at Maryland where he amassed almost 2,300 total rushing yards before landing at Indiana.

There, alongside tailback Kaelon Black, Hemby had his best career output, rushing for 1,120 yards while adding 7 touchdowns before going to the Raiders as an undrafted prospect.

Pat Coogan anchored Indiana’s offensive line at center after coming over from Notre Dame, and former Wisconsin tight end Riley Nowakowski were also key inputs for the Hoosiers’ offense last season.

Another year of change

While those transfers also helped Indiana emerge as a national power, Curt Cignetti finds himself in another season of transition, as all of last year’s starting players acquired in the transfer portal are all gone.

Not to worry, though, as the Hoosiers brought in another promising class that ranks inside the top 10 nationally, featuring solid pickups like wide receiver Nick Marsh, quarterback Josh Hoover, and edge rusher Toni Osunanmi in 2026.

(Athletic)

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