Top three winners and losers in the college football transfer portal

Transfer portal commitments are in full swing, as the portal remains open until Jan. 16, and schools will start their spring semesters soon.

Among those who have fared well in the portal lately are teams from both the Big Ten Conference and the Southeastern Conference. A Big 12 Conference squad, meanwhile, could have some bad news coming soon related to the portal.

While things can rapidly fluctuate with transfer portal recruiting, here are three studs and duds in the portal in recent days.

Top winners and losers in the transfer portal

Winners

Penn StateThe Nittany Lions and new head coach Matt Campbell have the top-ranked 2026 transfer class, according to 247Sports. Penn State is up to 30 transfer commits. Some of the Nittany Lions’ transfer pledges include West Virginia safety Chris Fileppo, Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht, Iowa State tight end Cooper Alexander, Syracuse cornerback Ibn McDaniels and UCLA defensive lineman Siale Taupaki.

TennesseeTo date, the Volunteers have just eight signees among college transfers, however, Tennessee’s 2026 portal class is No. 13 nationally. On Saturday, the Vols picked up a massive transfer pledge from Penn State edge-rusher Chaz Coleman. In transfer rankings from 247Sports, he is rated five stars, No. 5 nationwide and No. 1 at edge.

UCLAThe Bruins have landed a bunch of transfer commitments over the past two days. UCLA is up to 29 pledges in a portal class that is No. 20 overall. The Big Ten school, recently, has scored commitments from transfers such as Notre Dame linebacker Anthony Sacca, South Carolina wide receiver Brian Rowe Jr., Cal Poly quarterback Ty Dieffenbach and Texas Tech edge Amier Washington, among others.

Losers

BaylorOn3 reported that the Bears had received a verbal commitment from Florida transfer quarterback DJ Lagway. However, per On3, a contract has not been signed, and Lagway on Saturday was set to visit Ole Miss. If the Rebels lure Lagway away from Baylor, that would be a huge blow to the Big 12 Conference member. Lagway is four stars, No. 13 overall and No. 4 at quarterback, per transfer rankings from 247Sports.

Notre DameThe Fighting Irish are off to a slow start in the portal, but Notre Dame has time to make up ground. On Saturday, the team only had one transfer commit, and 15 players were departing the Fighting Irish. That has resulted in Notre Dame’s 2026 transfer cycle being No. 97 nationally. Ouch.

AlabamaThe Crimson Tide have six transfer commits in a class that is No. 23 overall. That’s the semi-good news. The bad news is that two of the highest-rated transfer prospects around the country hail from Alabama. In fact, per 247Sports, two Crimson Tide transfers are in the top 10 nationally, and another two are in the top 60 overall. Defensive lineman James Smith is No. 7, wide receiver Isaiah Horton is No. 9, edge Keon Keeley is No. 49 and fellow edge Qua Russaw is No. 53.