Five Thoughts on the Big 12’s Team Transfer Portal Rankings

It’s the new era of college football and things change fast. With the advent of an open transfer portal, a team can nearly reload its roster over the course of an offseason. In fact, a few Big 12 teams, including Oklahoma State, nearly did just that.

So, with the dog days of summer upon us, I thought it would be apt to take a snapshot of the how each of the conference’s schools have fared in the portal and then point out some significant takeaways.

First off, here are the Big 12 teams ranked by transfer portal class ranking, as of writing, according 247Sports. I’ve included last year’s finish for reference. Below that are my takeaways.

1.  Tech Cleaned Up

The Red Raiders seem to have figured out this whole portal thing.

Texas Tech leads all FBS programs with 13 four-star transfers. Seven on offense, six on defense. Maybe even more impressive is the that top six ranked transfers are coming in the trenches. They are as follows by rank: edge rusher David Bailey (Stanford), offensive tackle Howard Sampson (UNC), edge rusher Romello Height (Georgia Tech), inside OL Hunter Zambrano (Illinois State), offensive tackle Will Jados (Miami – OH) and defensive lineman Lee Hunter (UCF).

What’s even more promising for the Red Raiders is that this is not just a reload. Tech is adding this talent to an established group of veterans. The Raiders only took 21 transfers to get those 13 four-stars, and they are among the Big 12 teams with the most returning starters from last year at 12. Only Arizona State (17), Iowa State (14) and Baylor (13) return more starters from 2024.

2. Mountaineers Were Aggressive (But Needed to Be)

The Mountaineers added 52 transfers, nearly half of the reduced roster limit of 105 set by the NCAA. But they needed to be. After a disappointing 6-7 and a coaching change, WVU returns just three starters from last year in running back Jahiem White and wide receivers Preston Fox and Rodney Gallagher III.

Tied for second in the league are OSU and UCF, each with 41 transfers. Those two teams combined for just seven wins, as we know, and each return just four starters from last year. Lots of work to do.

3. If it Ain’t Broke…

It should come as little surprise that the three teams with the most wins, had to do the least work in the portal.

As quoted above, Arizona State and Iowa State return the most starters from last year, and both teams reached 11 wins last season so reloading wasn’t as big of a need for either. In fact, the bottom five teams as far as transfer class ranking were among the top teams in the standings last season.

4. Coach Prime Still Got It

With a loss of two of the biggest stars in Colorado football history, Deion Sanders has his team in a position to compete. After ranking eighth in the transfer portal in 2024, Coach Prime has his team ranked 19th in mid-June.

The Buffs lost some of its top talent to the NFL Draft in Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders and wide receivers LaJohntay Wester and Jimmy Horn Jr. But they did yeoman’s work in the portal. A returning nine-win team (albeit with the losses above), brings in Top 20 class to go with eight returning starters from last year.

5. A New World

As Marshall pointed out recently, the Big 12 has been tough to predict of late. With the transfer portal and NIL as they function now, don’t expect that to change. The key is how quickly programs can pivot to the changing market.

The transfer portal rankings are just one angle. You’ve got traditional high school recruiting to consider and culture and development which starts from the head coach down. But in the age of parity and quick turnarounds, the transfer portal is as important as ever.