Duke QB Maalik Murphy can make these 5 teams national title contenders back in portal

Stop me if you have heard this one before. Maalik Murphy is back in the transfer portal. The former star recruit by Texas left Austin right before the College Football Playoff last year. He was Quinn Ewers' primary backup before hitting the portal. Murphy quickly transferred to Duke to go play for incoming head coach Manny Diaz. Duke went 9-3 this season in Murphy's lone season in Durham.

It might sound crazy, but there is a chance Murphy is the best player who enters the transfer portal this offseason. We know he can win big games and be trusted to start at a good Power Four program. He looked good at times in 2023 filling in for Ewers at Texas in Big 12 play. The fact Duke is not ranked at 9-3 is a bit of a shock. I thought he was really excited about getting to start for Diaz over in Durham.

Now that Murphy is back in the portal, my biggest takeaway is this. His NIL valuation is about to skyrocket. There are several national title-contending teams that are about to lose their starters to either the NFL Draft, or even the transfer portal. Murphy would not only win the job at most of these schools, but could help these respective blue-blood college football programs win it all next season.

I would only leave Duke if I was Murphy for one of these five national contending college programs.

5. Oregon Ducks

The Oregon Ducks are losing Dillon Gabriel to the NFL Draft after this season. This is his sixth season of college football, now on his third team. While Dante Moore is sitting back and waiting in the wing, he has not played all that much in his two years of college football up to this point. With Oregon a perennial national title contender already, I would be shocked if they allow themselves to backslide.

While I envision offensive coordinator Will Stein potentially being up for bigger and better jobs in the second wave of the coaching carousel, assuming another high-profile job opens up the floodgates again, I think wanting to play for a head coach like Dan Lanning could be very appealing. After all, Murphy did leave an offensive mind in Steve Sarkisian to go play for a defensive-minded one in Diaz.

Oregon is a contender for pretty much everyone in the portal because the Ducks are a juggernaut.

4. Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State is the team to watch in the first-round of the College Football Playoff this season. Yes, they are a fun team to watch most weeks, but all the pressure is on head coach Ryan Day to win the next most important game of his coaching career. Back-to-back home losses in The Horseshoe to Michigan and Tennessee could have him on the way out. Also, this will be Will Howard's last season.

Although Ohio State can recruit anyone it wants to go play quarterback for them, it has been a chaotic last two years for them since C.J. Stroud turned pro. Kyle McCord had his moments last year, but transferred to Syracuse. Howard has not been all that much better than what McCord was in 2023. Regardless, Ohio State has the necessary players and coaching acumen to compete for titles.

No matter what happens in the College Football Playoff, Ohio State fallout will be all the rage soon.

3. Georgia Bulldogs

With Carson Beck having potentially played his final game for the Georgia Bulldogs, Kirby Smart has a big decision to make. Depending on how Gunner Stockton looks in the playoff, presumably filling in for an injured Beck, he may be the guy next year for the Dawgs. However, Georgia is too good of a program to not at least consider adding a player in the portal once Beck, and others, might leave.

They effectively replaced Brock Vandagriff with Jaden Rashada this past year. Vandagriff had a tough time as Kentucky's starter, while Rashada rode pine in Athens as Beck's third-stringer. My thought is Georgia might actually be more well-equipped in having a guy who can run a little bit in addition to throwing it with Murphy. He is exactly in between what Beck and Stockton do at their best with Georgia.

Georgia is going to be a player for a quarterback in the transfer portal, but it might not be Murphy...

2. Miami Hurricanes

As it is the case with Dillon Gabriel at Oregon, this will be Cam Ward's last year of college football. Ward has transferred twice since beginning his college career at Incarnate Ward. While he was a successful player both at UIW and at Washington State, it was not until he came to Miami that he became a Heisman Trophy candidate. I would venture to guess he is a lock to go in the first round.

For very obvious Mario Cristobal reasons, the Miami Hurricanes are not in the College Football Playoff. They went 10-2, but lost the one game they could not afford in the end to Syracuse on the road. That being said, I would argue that Miami is every bit the contender to win the ACC next year. The fact that Murphy could transfer to Miami after how awful they were to Diaz would be so unreal.

Murphy having already looked the part in the ACC at Duke makes him a serious Miami contender.

1. Alabama Crimson Tide

All signs point to Jalen Milroe turning pro as well. The Alabama Crimson Tide went 9-3 during Kalen DeBoer's first season as their head coach. While the highs were high, this team also lost unthinkable games to Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, helping the Commodores and Sooners achieve bowl eligibility. While DeBoer may want to go about this differently, Murphy to the Crimson Tide would be perfect.

Murphy would be competing against his former head coach Steve Sarkisian in the SEC. Even though. Alabama did not have the season the Crimson Tide faithful were expecting, I would not be shocked if they won something like 10 or so games next year and be back in the College Football Playoff mix. There are only a handful of teams who can afford to pursue a player like Murphy in the transfer portal.

No team could go from out of the playoff to winning a national title in one year like Alabama sure can.