It’s commonplace now for college players to see friends wearing the opposing team’s jersey. The transfer portal has made switching teams super easy.

The Longhorns will see a half-dozen familiar faces on the other sideline in the Peach Bowl and the College Football Playoffs quarterfinals.

Arizona State has six players that started at Texas and found their way to the desert, a crazy high number even in the transfer portal era.

Some, like defensive tackle Zac Swanson, have already made it known how fired up they’ll be to face the Horns. He can’t stand Texas now. But others still keep in touch, like ASU’s Xavion Alford and UT’s Jahdae Barron.

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“It's going to be good,” Alford said Friday. “I’m very close to Jahdae Barron, one of the better players over there, Jaylon Guilbeau, really close to those two guys. Just being a kid from Texas, went to high school in Texas, it was a great opportunity, great experience.

“Now getting to play against them somewhere else, it's kind of like the best of both worlds. I played with them, and now I get to play against them.”

A defensive back from Pearland, Alford signed with Texas in 2020 and played four games as a freshman under Tom Herman’s staff. He transferred to USC in spring 2021 but missed the entire 2022 season with injuries.

Alford had to sit out 2023 due to NCAA two-time transfer rules but earned his way on the scout team. This season, Alford has allowed just seven receptions, the second-lowest total among Big 12 players.

Have the phone calls from friends picked up?

“Like I said, I just view it as another game,” Alford said. “I went there, signed there, it is what it is. I knew there was a possibility we could play each other in CFP, and obviously here we are a couple days out, four, five days before the game, and it's here.”

Barron said he and Alford have chatted every week throughout the season, “except this week.”

“We started here together as a brother, and that's always going to be my brother,” Barron said. “So I’m just proud of him and how far he’s came.”

On the offensive side, the Sun Devils have receivers Jake Smith and Troy Omeire.

“He was super nice to me when I came in as a freshman and he didn't have to, because I was just a walk-on,” Texas safety Michael Taaffe said.

Defensive linemen Prince Dorbah and J’Mond Tapp were also like Swanson, former Longhorns that looked elsewhere for playing time. They all found it with the Sun Devils.

“Obviously they’ll be extra fired up to play Longhorns, because anytime you leave a school and you know some people, it’s always fun to play those guys,” Taaffe said. “So they'll be fired up, for sure.”