After it seems the vast majority of the transfer portal’s largest names have found a landing spot, a conference-by-conference analysis is in order, starting with three of the biggest winners and three of the biggest losers from the ACC.

Winner: Miami

The Hurricanes used the portal to their advantage, even though Mario Cristobal has yet to coach a game in Coral Gables. Owners of the top class in the conference, according to 247 Sports, Miami added multiple strong pieces to its roster, including former Clemson receiver Frank Ladson and former UCLA linebacker Mitchell Agude, who racked up 55 tackles for the Bruins last year. With the Hurricanes loading up particularly on defense, look for Cristobal to have things rolling in his first year as the head coach of his alma mater.

Winner: Florida State

Mike Norvell did well for himself in the offseason, grabbing arguably the best prospect to come to the ACC out of the portal in Albany transfer Jared Verse. An absolute monster on the defensive line, Verse still has three years of eligibility, which makes his talent even more exciting for Seminoles fans. This class isn’t just a one-trick pony, though. FSU pulled in 11 players, also including UCF linebacker transfer Tatum Bethune, who recorded over 100 tackles for the Golden Knights in 2021. Slowly but surely, Norvell seems to be in the process of building up one of the stronger rosters in the conference.

Winner: Louisville

Yet another team who had a strong top of its transfer portal class, Louisville made a splash with the signing of running back Tiyon Evans from Tennessee. Formerly a heralded JUCO product, Evans rushed for over 500 yards during his time in Knoxville before moving over to Scott Satterfield’s offense. In addition, the Cardinals also picked up cornerback Quincy Riley, who recorded five interceptions last year for Middle Tennessee State. It’s a big year for Satterfield and the Louisville team this year, and a solid transfer class will certainly help matters in 2022.

Loser: Pitt

If there was one player that could instantly put a team in contention for being one of the losers of the conference, it would be wide receiver Jordan Addison. The Biletnikoff Award winner from last year was set to come back to Pittsburgh, but soon changed paths, eventually landing at USC for what some believe to be a significant NIL deal. Perhaps at another school this would not be as big of an issue, but the Panthers simply do not come across this level of star very often, making this a tremendous blow. Pitt did add former USC quarterback Kedon Slovis — ironically enough, this became a sort of trade with the Trojans — but to be the face of the negative part of player movement has to land Pitt in the losers column.

Loser: Virginia

A fair amount of roster turnover was to be expected for the Cavaliers after the departure of Bronco Mendenhall, but there were simply too many significant pieces that left the program for Virginia to be ignored on this list. Rimington Trophy finalist Olu Oluwatimi found his way to Michigan, while two other starters on the offensive line transferred as well. On defense, promising linebacker West Weeks headed to LSU, and veteran linebacker Noah Taylor transferred to rival North Carolina in what was a particularly nasty blow. The Cavaliers reloaded to a certain extent, bringing in multiple players on each side of the ball, but the departures outweigh the arrivals in Charlottesville.

Loser: Clemson

This ranking may be up for interpretation due to Dabo Swinney’s philosophy on taking transfers, but losing the amount the Tigers did this offseason and adding only Hunter Johnson — a former backup quarterback at Clemson — may be cause for concern moving forward. Swinney did say that the only position the Tigers would take in the portal was an offensive lineman, but losing solid players like wide receiver Frank Ladson did not help the roster construction, especially considering that Clemson has taken small recruiting classes recently.