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Kalan Hooks, ESPN
A lot can happen in college football in a year.
The 2024 season brought plenty of new additions, including a 12-team format for the College Football Playoff that will feature a number of new competitors, including No. 3-seeded Boise State and No. 11 SMU.
Though some of the 12 teams who made the playoff bracket arrived on the back of dynasties built from previous seasons, other programs made complete turnarounds from losing seasons in 2023.
Factors such as coaching changes, picking up a previously underrated player in the transfer portal or a player having a breakout season can all contribute to a recipe for a complete turnaround.
Here are some teams who’ve turned their losing record into a winning 2024 season.
Arizona State hasn’t played in a bowl game since the 2021 season, when they competed in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl. The following two seasons, the Sun Devils won a total of six games and racked up 18 losses. In 2022, Arizona State brought on Kenny Dillingham, who became the youngest coach in then-Power 5.
Before this season, Arizona State was projected to finish last in the 16-team Big 12 conference but proved the projections wrong by winning their first Big 12 title over Iowa State.
During the offseason, the Sun Devils landed a solid quarterback in Michigan State transfer Sam Leavitt, who threw for only 139 yards for the Spartans in his freshman season before hitting the portal with four years of eligibility left.
Leavitt made an impact on the Arizona State offense, finishing the regular season with 24 touchdowns in his first full season.
Arizona State (11-2) also found success in running back Cam Skattebo, who finished fifth in Heisman voting with 1,568 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns.
Indiana struggled the previous three seasons in compiling only nine wins from 2021 to 2023. After Indiana completed its third consecutive losing season under Tom Allen, the Hoosiers underwent a coaching change and hired former James Madison coach Curt Cignetti as the program’s new leader.
Cignetti infused the program with 30 transfers, including former Ohio quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who was 2022 Mid-American Conference offensive player of the year.
The 6-foot-5 senior threw 27 regular-season touchdowns for the Hoosiers, his only game without a touchdown coming in their only loss of the season to Ohio State.
Under Cignetti, Indiana (11-1) compiled more wins in one season compared to its three previous seasons combined.
Once former South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler was picked up by the New Orleans Saints in the 2024 NFL draft, it forced the Gamecocks to establish a new core. But the core started with the hirings on South Carolina’s coaching staff.
During the offseason, the Gamecocks brought in running backs coach Marquel Blackwell, special teams coach Joe DeCamillis and wide receivers coach Mike Furrey.
South Carolina (9-3) landed Arkansas transfer Raheim Sanders, who was a leading rusher for the Razorbacks in 2022 with 1,443 rushing yards. With South Carolina, Sanders scored 11 touchdowns in the regular season. South Carolina also offered more time to quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who threw only two touchdowns in 2023. Coach Shane Beamer gave Sellers the keys in 2024 and he amassed 2,274 yards passing and 17 touchdowns.
Deion Sanders became the Buffaloes’ coach after leading Jackson State to back-to-back Celebration Bowl appearances. After his departure, there was no doubt his sons, star quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Shilo Sanders, along with five-star recruit Travis Hunter would join him in Boulder. But Sanders’ first season wasn’t exactly what he was used to in Jackson.
Colorado began its 2023 season with a three-game winning streak, including wins over Nebraska, Colorado State and 2023 national championship runner-up TCU.
But the Buffaloes finished their season with a six-game losing streak and 4-8 record.
In the offseason, Sanders signed five-star offensive lineman Jordan Seaton offseason to help strengthen the line up front, which helped Shedeur accumulate 3,926 passing yards to go with 35 touchdowns for Colorado (9-3).
However, a vital part in Colorado’s turnaround came from Hunter, who was able to cause commotion on both sides of the ball, collecting 1,152 yards on 92 receptions and 14 touchdowns in addition to his duties on defense at cornerback.
