The college football spring transfer portal is officially closed now. For Michigan State football and a few others, mercy has finally been given to them.

The college football transfer portal isn't always a give and take. Often, for a lot of teams, it's more take, depleting rosters not just of numbers but of overall team talent. Unfortunately, that's who we have to label the losers in this case, as they all can't be winners. The Spartans place at the top of that category, with three more notable teams right behind them.

Michigan State Spartans

The transfer portal can be a fickle beast, as Michigan State football found out during the college football spring transfer portal window. The Spartans lost a whopping 22 players while only bringing in five. New head coach Jonathan Smith's arrival helped for a positive winter window where the team managed to retain 10 players who had initially entered the portal. However, their fortunes quickly changed once spring came.

Four of those 10 players, including key starters on defense like Derrick Harmon and Simeon Barrow Jr., decided to re-enter the portal, joining other notable departures like safety Jaden Mangham and Bai Jobe. This left Michigan State football with significant gaps to fill, particularly on the defensive line where the spring portal had only slim pickings.

Despite efforts to bolster their roster, such as adding highly touted 2024 prospect Andrew Dennis and beating out Alabama for cornerback transfer Ed Woods, Michigan State football still ends up as one of the biggest losers of the college football spring transfer portal.

Arizona State Sun Devils

The Arizona State football program is still in the early stages of building under Kenny Dillingham, who is entering his second year as the team's head coach. But if it already wasn't an uphill battle in Tempe, it just got even worse.

The Sun Devils football program faced some significant losses during the spring transfer portal that will likely not favor them as they prepare to enter the Big 12 in 2024. Some of the key losses were receiver Elijhah Badger, who led the team in receiving yards last season. Another was that of highly-touted 2023 quarterback Jaden Rashada, who was looking to be the potential starter in 2024. Finally, the loss of tight end Bryce Pierre was also a major hit to the offense.

On the defensive side, cornerback Ed Woods was a standout player for Arizona State football and one of the better cornerbacks in the Pac-12 last season. His departure leaves a significant gap in the secondary.

Losing key players on both offense and defense, including arguably their best offensive and defensive players, along with a potential future star at quarterback, is a tough blow for Arizona State football. All in all, the Arizona State football team brings in just three new transfers to their 11 lost, making them losers during the spring cycle of the transfer portal.

Oregon State Beavers

The winter transfer window was brutal for Oregon State football, especially after losing coach Jonathan Smith to Michigan State, not to mention the complete demolition of the Pac-12 conference. It was no surprise then that they lost some of their most talented players, like quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. However, they were somehow able to manage holding on to their lead rusher in running back Damien Martinez.

Martinez lasted only until the college football spring transfer portal opened before he entered his name. The former Beaver is now setting off for the sandy beaches of Miami, playing for the Hurricanes this fall.

Looking at the state of the Oregon State football program now, Martinez's departure is not only a significant loss on the field but also one off of it. Oregon State football has no superstar-level talent, no proven head coach, and a shell of a conference home, with only Washington State by its side as remnants of the Pac-12.

Martinez's move out from Corvallis wasn't the only one, however. Four-star transfer defensive lineman Sione Lolohea also will be moving to the ACC, going to Florida State. Including both cycles, the Beavers lost 25 players to their incoming 15. The 2024 version of Oregon State football is likely unable to resemble that of the last two years, which won a total combined 18 games.

Alabama Crimson Tide

This one is probably going to come as a shock to most. Alabama football hasn't been the losers at much of anything for over two decades now. And really, they're not even that big of losers here. But losing 39 total players from both the winter and the spring windows that included multiple four and five star prospects, is set to make quite a makeover in Tuscaloosa.

The Crimson Tide have been living on the name of Nick Saban and the success he created with the program over two decades ago. It was not until Saban saw the writing on the wall where the ways of old recruiting weren't going to quite cut it any longer, leading to his retirement. The team is now in the hands of former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer, who saw a mass exodus upon his arrival.

DeBoer was left with a major disadvantage when he came to the Alabama football team. Not only did he have to follow in the footsteps of the greatest coach of all time but then he had to watch a plethora of his newfound players simply walk out the door because they had that luxury. Meanwhile, he could do nothing but wait until the spring window opened.

Including some Washington players that chose to follow him, DeBoer has eight incoming transfers from both cycles. Some of those are former highly-ranked recruits, such as LT Overton and Domani Jackson. But make no mistake about it, this is all new to those in the Alabama football program. DeBoer has proven that he can make the portal work to his advantage like he did at Washington but Alabama and the SEC are a different animal. They're not so much losers like the others above here. They're just not overall winners of the college football spring transfer portal.