No. 1 Transfer Portal QB Shifts Attention to Major College Football Program

The top-rated quarterback from the 2026 NCAA transfer portal cycle is shifting national attention to a Power Four college football program.

Arizona State Sun Devils quarterback Sam Leavitt (10) looks to pass against TCU Horned Frogs | Jacob Reiner-Imagn Images

The cycle of chaos in college football created by the NCAA transfer portal ceased near the end of January.

Virtually every major college football program saw significant portions of their 2025 rosters jump into the portal at the start of the 2026 offseason. Some programs took a selective approach in the portal by acquiring 15 to 20 players in areas of need, while others reeled in nearly half of their 2026 rosters from the portal out of necessity.

One program that made copious amounts of acquisitions was LSU, which acquired 40 transfers for Lane Kiffin's inaugural team. The cornerstone of the Tigers' 2026 portal class is quarterback Sam Leavitt, who came to LSU after spending his last two seasons at Arizona State.

LSU is the third program Leavitt will play for in his college football career. The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder redshirted during the 2023 season at Michigan State, backing up Katin Houser and Noah Kim. Leavitt joined the exodus from East Lansing when the Spartans hired Jonathan Smith as the former head coach, Mel Tucker's successor.

Michigan State's Sam Leavitt looks to throw against Michigan during the fourth quarter on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. | Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Leavitt's first season at Arizona State was remarkably successful. He passed for 2,885 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions and ran for 443 yards and five touchdowns, all while guiding the Sun Devils to a Big 12 Championship victory and College Football Playoff appearance.

A Lisfranc injury cut Leavitt's 2025 season to just seven games, and he became the first Power Four quarterback to decide to enter the transfer portal in early December.

The capabilities of LSU's offense with the No. 1 quarterback from the portal cycle and a proven play caller like Lane Kiffin have swayed plenty of attention in the Tigers' direction. Robby Kalland of CBS Sports released a piece on what early betting lines tell the college football landscape about its contenders for the College Football Playoff in 2026. One matchup Kalland listed was LSU's home opener against Clemson.

"Now the spotlight shifts to Baton Rouge, where Lane Kiffin has retooled LSU's roster with the nation's No. 1 transfer portal class, headlined by former Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt," Kalland wrote. "Oddsmakers appear to be buying into the idea that Kiffin will open up the offense and quickly turn the Tigers into a contender."

The matchup between Clemson and LSU in Baton Rouge to open the 2026 season is the back end of a home-and-home that saw its first leg played in Clemson in 2025. LSU emerged with a 17-10 victory in what was supposed to be a matchup between a pair of College Football Playoff contenders.

LSU and Clemson did not take on the trajectory the media thought they might in 2025. LSU crumbled in SEC play and eventually fired head coach Brian Kelly after a home blowout loss to Texas A&M in late October, finishing the season at 7-6. Clemson also finished at 7-6 overall; the Tigers saw their College Football Playoff hopes dashed by a 1-3 start in the first month of the season.