The transfer portal has allowed college football teams to reinvent themselves each season and turn a program around in an instant.
Indiana, the 2025 national champion, made heavy use of the transfer portal en route to its first title, and in the Big 12 Conference, Texas Tech bolstered its trenches en route to a conference title.
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Elsewhere in the Big 12, Utah also benefitted from the transfer portal, adding players like quarterback Devon Dampier, Wayshawn Parker and Ryan Davis, who helped the Utes become one of the more productive offenses in the nation.
There’s no doubt about it: The transfer portal is the most effective team-building tool in this era of college football, and the teams that have the most success bringing in good transfers are usually the teams in the College Football Playoff.
Sam Khan Jr. of The Athletic recently ranked the top 25 portal classes, taking into account “the quality of players added and lost, how well needs were filled and how many transfers are expected to make a major impact.”
Five Big 12 teams made the list, underscoring the depth of the conference.
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Texas Tech, of course, was the highest-ranked Big 12 team, checking in at No. 4 on the list. The Red Raiders made a big splash by landing Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby, but they also added to their defensive line once again with San Diego State defensive end Trey White and Miami (OH) defensive edge Adam Trick, who Khan Jr. called “two of the top edge rushers in the portal.”
Texas Tech also landed Austin Romaine, who was one of the better linebackers in the Big 12 last season.
Oklahoma State, which embarks on a new era under North Texas head coach Eric Morris this year, ranked No. 7 on the list.
North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker (17) looks to throw against Tulane during American Conference championship game in New Orleans, Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. | Matthew Hinton, Associated Press
Morris brought a lot of his North Texas players with him, including quarterback Drew Mestemaker, running back Caleb Hawkins and wide receiver Wyatt Young. Those three players could help breathe new life into the Cowboys’ offense.
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Three other Big 12 schools also made the list — Arizona State (17), Colorado (18) and Houston (22).
Kentucky quarterback Cutter Boley is the big addition for the Sun Devils and has big shoes to fill after Sam Leavitt left for LSU, but Arizona State also added Colorado’s Omarion Miller and Boston College’s Reed Harris to help him out.
Colorado, which almost exclusively focuses on the portal every year under Deion Sanders, turned in another nice class after losing a lot of players. A lot of the help comes on the defensive side in defensive back Randon Fontenette (Vanderbilt), defensive lineman Santana Hopper (Tulane) and linebacker Liona Lefau, but there’s some offensive talent too.
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders in the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. | David Zalubowski
The Buffaloes landed Texas receiver DeAndre Moore and San Jose receiver Danny Scudero to give likely five-star starting quarterback Julian Lewis some good options.
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Houston made a leap in 2025, finishing 10-3 with a bowl win over LSU, and looks ready to be a Big 12 contender in 2026 with the additions of some offensive linemen that should start, UTSA tight end Patrick Overmyer and Tulane cornerback Javion White.
