No. 1 transfer player linked to three college football powerhouses

Not long after Brendan Sorsby revealed his intention to enter the college football transfer portal, he instantly shot to the top of the national transfer rankings, and now three powerhouse programs are apparently expressing an interest in him.

The arms race is on for schools to put together a package to attract Sorsby to their rosters, and a trio of college football blue bloods, including two schools in the playoff, are poised to lead the charge, according to ESPN insider Pete Thamel.

Who’s in the market for Sorsby?

“As for the market itself, Cincinnati’s Brendan Sorsby is considered the top quarterback in the portal. I’ve been told by sources LSU, Texas Tech, and Miami are among the schools considering Sorsby,” Thamel said on College GameDay.

One of the SEC’s great traditional contenders and two teams that made the College Football Playoff look interested in the quarterback. Not a bad rotation for him to choose from.

Sorsby is currently listed as the No. 1 overall player in the 2026 transfer portal as well as the top-ranked quarterback, according to the 247Sports transfer player rankings.

The schools in question

Lane Kiffin made the biggest splash in the college football coaching carousel by ditching the Ole Miss program he led to a playoff and landing on LSU’s sideline, and scouting a game-changer at the most important position will be his foremost priority.

And from the sound of it, it appears Kiffin and LSU are prepared to marshal their donors to invest some serious money in whatever quarterback they can bring on.

Sorsby is listed as one of the ten most valuable players in college football when it comes to NIL estimations, currently boasting a $2.4 million valuation, according to the national On3 rankings.

Texas Tech has made tremendous strides recently, earning its first College Football Playoff appearance on the back of a historically-great defense, but is in the market for a new quarterback as Behren Morton is expected to enter the NFL Draft.

After finding considerable success at the quarterback position in the transfer portal the last two years, Miami could land a third in as many tries with Sorsby available.

Cam Ward and Carson Beck gave the Hurricanes’ offense life out of the portal, and adding Sorsby would be another coup for Mario Cristobal.

What he’s done on the field

The attention around Sorsby is understandable, considering the quarterback has emerged as one of the more productive and consistent players at his position.

Sorsby completed 207 of his 336 pass attempts for nearly 62 percent while covering 2,800 yards and scored 27 touchdowns with just five interceptions this past season.

A noted dual threat, the quarterback added 580 rushing yards and nine touchdowns while averaging a personal-best 5.8 yards per attempt on the ground.

Sorsby spent the last two seasons with the Cincinnati program, where he transferred after exiting Indiana, where he suited up the previous two years.

The quarterback has passed for 7,208 total yards and scored 60 touchdowns in the air while rushing for 1,305 yards and adding 22 more touchdowns on the ground in his college football career.

How the college football transfer portal works

College football’s transfer portal officially opens on Jan. 2, but that hasn’t stopped a flurry of players from entering their names for consideration at a new school right now.

The new 15-day transfer portal window from Jan. 2-16 and the elimination of the spring transfer period has condensed the timeline for players and programs to make their moves.

The NCAA Transfer Portal is a private database that includes the names of student-athletes in every sport at the Division I, II, and III levels. The full list of names is not available to the public.

But we know Sorsby will be on it. As do several college football contenders looking to bring him on.

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