David Pollack names No. 1 transfer portal winner in college football

College football analyst David Pollack has named a Power Four college football program as the biggest winner in the 2026 NCAA transfer portal cycle.

Jan 2, 2023; Pasadena, California, USA; ESPN broadcaster David Pollack at the 109th Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The 2026 NCAA transfer portal cycle in college football is winding down. The two-week window for college football players to enter the portal in search of new schools began on Jan. 2 and closed at midnight on Jan. 16.

The majority of the thousands of entrants into the NCAA transfer portal announced their intent to enter directly after the regular season ended. Most of them committed elsewhere during the two-week window, but some did not commit until after the window closed.

With the cycle mostly complete, college football media is beginning to analyze which programs performed best in the 2026 NCAA transfer portal cycle.

Former Georgia linebacker and college football analyst David Pollack broke down the five teams he believed did the best work with the portal this offseason on his show, See Ball Get Ball. Texas was the first program Pollack mentioned as a winner in the portal cycle.

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian looks on in the first half against the Georgia Bulldogs | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

"Here's what I'll say about Texas when it comes to the list: playmakers, who they have coming back, who they retained, they did an unbelievable job of filling holes and swinging, shooting their shot," Pollack said. "If you don't think Texas had one eye over there to Lubbock and what was going on last year and seeing how much success they had in the transfer portal, I think you're wrong."

Texas was not the most frequent user of the portal in the 2026 cycle, but the acquisitions it made were necessary to reload in successful areas and correct deficiencies from the 2025 season. The Longhorns purged a relatively unproductive running back room and brought in two of the best portal entries available in Hollywood Smothers (NC State) and Raleek Brown (Arizona State).

The Longhorns were able to acquire Cam Coleman, the best wide receiver and one of the very best portal prospects in the cycle, over multiple other high bidders across the country. Wide receiver was another deficiency that Texas purged much of what was set to return in 2026 in order to land Coleman.

The offensive line was another area the Longhorns had to address. It brought in four-star offensive tackle Melvin Siani (Wake Forest) to go with a trio of three-star pickups in Jonte Newman (Texas A&M), Laurence Seymore (Western Kentucky) and Dylan Sikorski (Oregon State). Defensively, Texas added four-star prospects in defensive lineman Ian Geffrard (Arkansas), Rasheem Biles (Pittsburgh) and Bo Mascoe.

Nationally, Texas is ranked as the No. 3 transfer portal class by 247Sports and No. 9 by On3. Only LSU and Ole Miss sit ahead of the Longhorns in 247Sports' team rankings for 2026 NCAA transfer portal classes.

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian looks on before a game against the Michigan Wolverines | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images