Two Cal Players on ESPN's All-Underrated-Transfer Team

Golden Bears linebacker Teddye Buchanan and defensive lineman Aidan Keanaaina make that unsual team

Cal defensive lineman Aidan Keanaaina / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

ESPN has come up with its all-underrated-transfer-portal team, and Cal has two players named to that 26-player team. 

Granted, it’s a rather esoteric category, but it is still noteworthy that two Golden Bears players on it. South Carolina is the only other school with two players on ESPN’s all-underrated-transfer-portal team, and Arizona State is the only school with three players on that team, which ESPN.com posted earlier this week.

The two Cal players on that team are defensive lineman Aidan Keanaaina and inside linebacker Teddye Buchanan.  They are underrated presumably because Cal is just 5-5 overall and 1-5 in the ACC.  But Cal’s defense ranks first in the ACC in scoring defense.

Nine of the 22 players who started for Cal against Syracuse last week began their college careers at other colleges, and that does not include wide receivers Tobias Merriweather (Notre Dame) and Kyion Grayes (Ohio State) and outside linebacker David Reese, who were projected as starters before missing much of the 2024 season with injuries.

Here is what ESPN said about Keanaaina, one of four defensive linemen on the squad:

DL: Aidan Keanaaina, Cal (via Notre Dame)

Cal took a chance on Keanaaina despite his minimal production at Notre Dame and found a gem. The 6-3, 320-pound redshirt junior logged a total of 90 snaps on defense over four seasons in South Bend but has started every game for the Bears and has played 348 snaps, recording 33 stops, 2.5 TFLs and a sack as an effective run-stuffing defensive tackle.

And here is what ESPN said about Buchanan, one of three linebackers on this underrated-transfer team:

LB: Teddye Buchanan, Cal (via UC Davis)

Buchanan, a Bay Area native, hit the portal in December and chose to stay close to home by picking the Bears for his final season of eligibility. The 6-2, 235-pound inside linebacker had no trouble adjusting to the move up from FCS and has been a sideline-to-sideline force for Cal's defense, ranking second in the ACC with 97 tackles and producing 11 TFLs, five sacks, four pass breakups and two forced fumbles.

Those two hope to make an impact on Saturday when the Golden Bears play their final regular-season home game against Stanford in the 127th Big Game.

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