Five most improved teams since opening of 2026 college football transfer portal

College football players still have until Jan. 16 to enter the transfer portal, but several have already made moves to drastically alter the 2026 season landscape.

Below, we take a look at five teams that have taken the biggest strides toward improvement through the portal's first 10 days.

LSU Tigers

LSU's offense cratered in 2025, finishing the year No. 103 in scoring (22.8 points per game). While Lane Kiffin's hiring made a rebound likely, until Monday, he didn't have a proven quarterback. That changed when the Tigers added former Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt, who has thrown for 4,652 yards, 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while adding 816 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns in his first three collegiate seasons.

Leavitt will have a full cabinet of weapons at his disposal after Kiffin previously loaded up at wide receiver, adding Hawaii's Jackson Harris, a 2025 All-Mountain West team member, Eugene Wilson III (Florida Gators), Jayce Brown (Kansas State), Tre Brown (Old Dominion), Malik Elzy (Illinois), and Winston Watkins Jr., an Ole Miss commit in the 2025 class.

Harris can take the top off defenses, finishing his sophomore year with 49 receptions, 963 yards (19.7 yards per catch) and 12 touchdowns. Jayce and Tre Brown (no relation) also have big-play ability; Jayce has averaged 17.1 yards per reception over the first three years of his collegiate career, while Tre exploded for 20.1 yards per catch as a sophomore for the Monarchs. Wilson and Elzy have less production, but as upperclassmen coming in from other power conference programs, they'll provide valuable depth for a new-look unit.

Oklahoma State Cowboys

The cavalry is coming.

Head coach Eric Morris is bringing a large crew with him from North Texas, which finished the season a win shy of clinching a College Football Playoff berth, but none is more important than quarterback Drew Mestemaker. He threw for an FBS-high 4,379 yards this season while completing 68.9 percent of his passes. Oklahoma State passers, meanwhile, combined for 2,089 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2025. The Cowboys needed to improve at quarterback, and they landed one of the most prolific available thanks to their head coach.

Texas Longhorns

Quarterback Arch Manning was up-and-down in his first season but ended on a high note in the Citrus Bowl. The positive momentum has continued into the offseason, with the Longhorns taking major strides to improve an offense that sputtered in their three losses. Texas signed former NC State running back Hollywood Smothers, who averaged 5.9 yards per attempt and scored six touchdowns on 160 carries in 2025. The program also added one of the portal's most talented wideouts, Cam Coleman, from Auburn.

Virginia Tech Hokies

First-year head coach James Franklin has quickly rebuilt a porous defense that allowed 30.2 points per game in 2025, which ranked No. 106 in the country. He brought in several former Penn State recruits, with rising senior linebacker Keon Wylie a potential anchor. Skilled Troy corner Jaquez White had three interceptions and 11 passes defended as a junior and provides stability in the defensive backfield. Franklin also bolstered the front with underclassmen, allowing the unit to grow together.

West Virginia Mountaineers

After ranking No. 110 in scoring (21.8 points per game) in Rich Rodriguez's first season of his second stint in Morgantown, the longtime head coach went back to his previous stomping ground to kickstart a turnaround. West Virginia added three All-Conference USA members from Jacksonville State, Rodriguez's home for two seasons (2023-24) before being hired back by the Mountaineers.

Guards Amare Grayson and Cameron Griffin, recruits under Rodriguez, combined to account for 28 total pressures and three sacks allowed this season, per Pro Football Focus data. They were also excellent blockers for running back Cam Cook, who played at TCU from 2022-23 before transferring to Jacksonville State last season. He was one of the breakout players in FBS, leading the country in rushing (1,659 yards) and scoring 16 touchdowns on 295 carries.

The best teams during Rodriguez's first go as West Virginia head coach (2005-07) were dominant running the football, averaging 291.4 rushing yards per game as the program went 32-5. In 2025, the Mountaineers gained 160.6 yards per game on the ground and averaged 3.7 yards per attempt. The commitment to the run could be their ticket back to contention.