Thousands of college football players flood transfer portal on Day 1

On3's database reports a truly absurd number of college football transfers just twelve hours after the portal opened

College Football Playoff logo | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Good luck. Good luck is all that can be said for any soul who is currently eomployed by a college football program. Because less than half a day into the official transfer portal window, literally thousands of players have already entered it.

A few months back, college football adopted a new transfer portal window for the end of the season. In recent years, athletes would drip into the portal throughout December and January. However, to help get everyone on the same schedule, the powers that be in CFB decided to adopt a new window that didn't open until Jan. 2 and closes on the 16th, which allows for everyone, including the College Football Playoff teams, to operate in a similar time frame.

Of course, college football players around the country still announced their intentions to enter the teansfer portal immediately following the end of their seasons. So, since the tail-end of November, players have been making their decisions. It's just that they couldn't officially enter the actual transfer portal or begin their official recruitments until Friday, Jan. 2.

With the portal now open for all, On3 reports that as of noon ET on Friday, more than 2,000 college football players had filed their paperwork and officially entered the transfer portal. Two grand. And that's barely halfway through one day.

NEW: Over 2000 College Football players have entered the NCAA Transfer Portal in less than 12 hours, @PeteNakos reports🤯https://t.co/U31NaOwVgy https://t.co/9vkvc1QraM pic.twitter.com/B8dzxJu8OY

— On3 (@On3sports) January 2, 2026

Historical data on college football transfers

Now, that number ought to slow down as the hours and days drag on. As we mentioned, many players made their decision days or weeks ago and had announced it, so many of those 2,000 players likely had their i's and t's ready to dot and cross the day the portal did open. But still, expect at least a few thousand more to trickle on into the market before everything is wrapped back up by the 16th.

If you're guessing at a total number of college football transfers for the 2026 cycle, On3's historical data might provide a hint. According to their database, the 2025 cycle last offseason produced just over 4,000 total college football transfers. However, their database also notes that of those 4,100+ kids, only about 2,800 of them found new FBS homes. There is an element of be careful what you wish for with transferring.

In 2024, two years back, On3 reported a few less transfers, just 3,300, with 2,200 of them finding new FBS homes. That means 68% of FBS transfers found new FBS homes in 2025 while 69% found a new home in 2024. Basically, the data is telling us to expect at least a couple thousand more transfers while only about 70% of those guys will truly find new homes at the Div. 1 level.