Transfer Portal Snapshot: LSU claims no. 1

By Chris Marler

The 2026 NCAA transfer portal opened Friday, Jan 2 and has been open for 11 days now. 

By the Numbers 

As of Monday, over 4,000 players in college football have entered the portal. That includes 2,898 players at the FBS level. That’s 114 more names that entered on Monday. A total of 1,427 FBS players have committed, meaning 49 percent of the players in the portal have signed or committed to a school. That’s up five percent from yesterday, as 194 players committed or signed with a school on Monday. 

A trend that stayed the same was less than 1 percent of players withdrawing their name from the portal with just 27 players rethinking their initial decision to enter. To put that in perspective, that number has hovered around 4 percent over the last three years. LSU running back Caden Durham is one of those 27 players after he announced he’d be returning to LSU early Monday. 

The Portal King Strikes Again 

Nothing is final until pen meets paper and a contract is signed, but LSU’s last 24 hours have been incredible. On Sunday night they announced the return of several starters from last year’s team including tight end Trey’Dez Green. On Monday, Caden Durham announced the same. 

They also landed former Ole Miss wide receiver Winston Watkins. The big news however, was that the No. 1 player in the portal Sam Leavitt announced he intends to sign with LSU.

LSU now holds the No. 1 spot in the transfer portal rankings and have 24 signees in this year’s cycle. 

Alabama’s Roller Coaster Continues 

Alabama ended Saturday ranked No. 23 nationally according to 247Sports. By Sunday, one of their top commits flipped to Texas and Alabama dropped to No. 56. By Monday morning they dropped all the way down to No. 59 and were last in the SEC in transfer portal rankings. 

Their luck finally changed when they landed three commitments. The first was former Marshall kicker Lorcan Quinn, followed by former five-star offensive tackle Ty Haywood and finally, former Ohio State and NC State wide receiver Noah Rogers. 

Haywood and Rogers were both top 150 players in the portal and jumped Alabama up 28 spots to No. 31 in the country. That still ranks 14th in the SEC. 

Mississippi State’s Big Day 

Mississippi State has quietly assembled a great class despite ranking 15th in the SEC. 

Honestly that feels way too low considering the amount of talent they’re bringing in and the quality of talent. On Monday they continued their hot streak with four more players added. All four were from former SEC schools, and that includes their third Oklahoma transfer in the last two days. 

Exodus by SEC Teams 

These numbers will fluctuate rapidly, but here are the total players that have entered the portal for each SEC team according to 247Sports as of Monday, Jan. 12, at 6:00 p.m. CT.

388 players from the SEC have entered the portal, and 263 players have committed and/or signed with SEC teams. 

SEC Players Entering The Portal

• Auburn – 36
• Arkansas – 35 
• Mississippi State – 34 
• LSU – 33
• Florida – 31
• Oklahoma – 26
• Tennessee – 25
• Missouri – 24
• Texas – 22 
• South Carolina – 22
• Kentucky – 21
• Alabama – 20
• Vanderbilt – 17 
• Texas A&M – 17
• Ole Miss – 13
• Georgia – 12

Players Signed By An SEC Team 

• Arkansas – 33
• LSU – 24
• Kentucky – 23 
• Auburn – 23
• Florida – 19
• Texas A&M – 17
• South Carolina – 17
• Mississippi State – 17
• Missouri – 14 
• Vanderbilt – 14
• Texas – 13
• Ole Miss – 13 
• Oklahoma – 12
• Tennessee – 9
• Alabama – 9
• Georgia – 6

247Sports National Rankings 

No. 1 – LSU
No. 2 – Texas
No. 5 – Ole Miss
No. 6 – Kentucky
No. 7 – Texas A&M
No. 12 – Auburn
No. 15 – Florida
No. 16 – South Carolina
No. 17 – Oklahoma
No. 18 – Tennessee
No. 19 – Arkansas
No. 20 – Missouri
No. 28 – Georgia
No. 31 – Alabama
No. 34 – Mississippi State
No. 47 – Vanderbilt