Kirby Lee-USA Today Sports
By Chris Marler
The transfer portal window is finally being fixed for the college football calendar. In the past several years there was a December window and a spring window. The December window was total chaos, overlapping with conference championship week, bowl and CFP prep, and finals for the student-athletes navigating it all.
The December window mirrored early signing day in recruiting, with most players committing quickly and a few waiting for the later option, though the portal functioned differently.
One clear trend from the later portal window was Group of Six players waiting until after spring practice to enter, add film, and see which Power Five programs grew desperate for help.
There was one notable LSU example involving an unnamed defensive tackle from a MAC school, the top uncommitted interior lineman from the spring window, whose NIL demand would’ve tied the highest-paid player on the roster, a three-year starter, team captain, and eventual No. 4 NFL Draft pick.
LSU said no. Miami did not, and he got paid.
I am all for the capitalism side of this whole thing. I am not going to pretend like getting the most amount of money someone is willing to pay you would be a morally inferior decision. Almost all of us would do the same thing or at the very least, love to be in a position to do the same thing.
Where I think that mindset will manifest into the current window is leveraged late in the cycle. The portal closes on Jan. 16. There are currently 330 SEC players who have entered the portal and 100 players who have committed or signed with an SEC school. Those numbers cannot stay that lopsided, and rosters will have to be filled one way or another.
Total Players lost to the #TransferPortal by SEC team as of 1/6/2026
Auburn – 33
Florida – 31
Mississippi State – 30
Arkansas – 30
LSU – 26
Tennessee – 24
Oklahoma – 23
Missouri – 22
South Carolina – 21
Texas – 18
Alabama – 17
Kentucky – 17
Vanderbilt – 14
Texas A&M – 13…— Chris Marler (@Vern_Funquist) January 6, 2026
Will that turn into overspending out of desperation like we’ve seen in the past? Players still hold an overwhelming amount of leverage in these negotiations. Plus, if there’s one thing that has been true for at least a decade in this sport it’s that money is not real and someone will always pay, regardless of the price.
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