Transferring from Texas to Oklahoma should be considered a war crime.

PublishedJanuary 3, 2026 4:18 PM EST•UpdatedJanuary 3, 2026 4:18 PM EST

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I’ve been bemoaning the slow death of college football as we all know it for a long time now, certainly longer than I have been at OutKick.

Every time I think we have hit rock bottom, something else happens that makes me reevaluate just how much further the sport I love so dearly has yet to fall.

With the insanity of an unregulated transfer system and NIL in place, college football looks unrecognizable to what it used to be even a decade ago.

RELATED: Transfer Portal A Circus Before It Even Opened

Something else that’s really stuck in my craw lately is the rapidly diminishing importance of rivalry games.

We all know about USC and Notre Dame canceling their annual series, or the Big Ten implementing a nonsensical “rivalry” series between a bunch of schools that have next to no historical or geographical basis of hatred, but the transfer portal has offered a new way to make rivalries nearly meaningless.

With this year’s transfer portal less than two days old, players are already lining up their visits to their next potential school, and a few visits have raised my (and several others’) eybrow.

What are we even doing here, folks?

Look, I can reluctantly admit that kids should be allowed to transfer wherever they want, although I still think, barring extenuating circumstances, they should have to sit for a year, but this is insane.

DJ Lagway was smoking a celebratory cigar in the FSU locker room after blowing them out in Doak Campbell a little over a year ago, and now he’s viewing them as a potential landing spot?

Meanwhile, you have a guy like Longhorns wide receiver Parker Livingstone transferring to Texas’ most hated rival, the Oklahoma Sooners?

Florida and Florida State hate each other, as do Texas and Oklahoma, so all of this just feels gross.

It’s nothing new, either.

Another Florida player, running back Trevor Etienne, famously transferred to Georgia before the start of the 2024 season, but it just feels like it’s becoming more frequent.

I remember how big of a deal it was when Brock Berlin transferred from the Gators to the Miami Hurricanes and then beat his former team the following year.

Berlin was seen as Judas in Gainesville, but now he is considered just another casualty of the portal era of college football.

I miss when rivalries used to mean something to the players, not just the fans.

It makes college football feel less personal, which was one of the things that distinguished it from the NFL.

I want my rivalries to mean something. I want my college football back.

The NCAA transfer portal is officially open for all college football players seeking new schools next season. The portal is open for two weeks, officially closing on Jan. 16.

In the weeks following the conclusion of the 2025 college football regular season, thousands of players from all levels of the sport made the decision to enter the transfer portal. Some of the more marquee names in this cycle involve quarterbacks shifting the Power Four level.

One of these quarterbacks on the move is former Cincinnati signal-caller Brendan Sorsby. He will have one season of eligibility remaining at his third school.

The 6-foot-3, 235-pounder began his college football career under Tom Allen in 2022. He completed three of six passes for eight yards and an interception in a blowout loss to Penn State in his lone appearance that season.

Sorsby was featured in 10 of Indiana’s 12 games in the 2023 season. He finished the year with 1,587 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions while rushing for another 286 yards and four touchdowns. Allen was fired that offseason, and Sorsby transferred to Cincinnati.

The Bearcats started Sorsby in all 12 games in 2024. He passed for 2,813 yards, 18 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions, while rushing for 447 yards and 9 touchdowns. Cincinnati finished that season 5-7, dropping each of its last five games.

Sorsby logged 2,800 pass yards, 27 touchdown passes and five interceptions to go along with 580 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground in 2025. He was named All-Big 12 Second Team by the Big 12 coaches. He opted out of the Liberty Bowl after deciding to transfer.

Schools searching for quarterbacks in the transfer portal are considering Sorsby a hot commodity. Pete Thamel of ESPN has reported that three schools have separated themselves in the hunt for Sorsby.

Texas Tech

One potential destination for Sorsby lies within the same conference as Cincinnati. The Red Raiders have been linked with Sorsby since he first announced his intention to enter the transfer portal.

Tyler Shough (Oregon) is the only starting quarterback for the Red Raiders to come from the portal in Joey McGuire’s tenure. With Behren Morton’s eligibility expiring and backup Mitch Griffis entering the portal, Sorsby could be the bridge Texas Tech needs between Morton in 2025 and Will Hammond in 2027.

LSU

Lane Kiffin has earned the “portal king” moniker for his work in acquiring players from the transfer portal during his time at Ole Miss. Quarterback is no exception, as Matt Corral and Austin Simmons were the only signal callers recruited by the Rebels from high school to start for Kiffin in six seasons at Ole Miss.

As a program, LSU has been very successful with transfer quarterbacks in the last decade. Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels both won Heisman Trophies a year after transferring to LSU. Sorsby could be a strong fit in Kiffin’s high-octane offense.

Miami

Mario Cristobal has finished with no fewer than 10 wins when acquiring a quarterback from the transfer portal at Miami. The Hurricanes produced the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft with Cam Ward (Washington State).

The Hurricanes are one win away from appearing in their first national championship since the end of the 2002 season with Carson Beck (Georgia) at quarterback. Sorsby figures to be an option given Miami’s track record with portal quarterbacks.

Let’s give Greg Schiano some credit (and a bit to Keli Zinn as well): This is a tremendous job so far in the transfer portal for Rutgers football. Simply retaining star wide receiver K.J Duff and running back Antwan Raymond shows that this isn’t the same old Rutgers.

Not by a long shot. Rutgers is all-in, something that Zinn has made clear in her five months on the job as athletic director. And the ability to keep Duff and Raymond means that Rutgers is finally a player in the Big Ten.

Retaining this duo shows that the Scarlet Knights have made tremendous strides on the NIL front. Simply keeping both players while some top-tier programs had wanted to sway Duff and Raymond away in the transfer portal – well, it is a clear indicator of how far this program has come.

The NCAA transfer portal is officially open for any college football players seeking different destinations for the 2026 season. The portal is open for a two-week period, closing on Jan. 16.

Thousands of players chose to enter the transfer portal in the weeks after the 2025 regular season ended. At the Power Four level, these announcements have led to a realignment of starting quarterbacks.

The first quarterback that decided to search for a new school was former Arizona State starter Sam Leavitt. He will have two seasons of eligibility at his third school.

The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder began his college football journey at Michigan State under Mel Tucker in 2023. He appeared in the four games needed to keep a redshirt, completing 15 of 23 passes for 139 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Tucker was let go for cause in the middle of the season, and Leavitt entered the transfer portal the following offseason.

Leavitt started all 14 games for Arizona State in 2024. He passed for 2,885 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions while rushing for 443 yards and five touchdowns. He guided the Sun Devils to a 12-2 overall record, Big 12 Championship victory and College Football Playoff appearance.

Leavitt was recognized as the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year and received All-Big 12 Second Team distinction. His 2,885 yards are the most by a freshman quarterback in Arizona State history.

A foot injury limited Leavitt’s 2025 season to just seven games. He passed for 1,628 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions and accumulated another 306 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

While Leavitt is sure to draw plenty of interest in the coming weeks, he has entered the portal with a “do not contact” tag, meaning he likely has a destination in mind. Pete Nakos of On3 reported that four different schools were in the mix for Leavitt on Saturday.

Kentucky

The Wildcats are a team that has found itself in the mix for Leavitt since the portal opened. Kentucky figures to be a more quarterback-friendly offense now that it has hired Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein.

Kentucky will have to address its quarterback depth in the transfer portal since Cutter Boley departed for the portal. The Wildcats are confident in incoming freshman Matt Ponatoski, but Leavitt could be the bridge they need to a potential multi-year starter.

Oregon

In the years between the end of Mario Cristobal’s tenure and the beginning of the Dan Lanning era, the Ducks have turned portal-heavy at quarterback. Anthony Brown (Boston College), Bo Nix (Auburn), Dillon Gabriel (UCF and Oklahoma) and Dante Moore (UCLA) have all started for Oregon from the transfer portal.

The other draw for Leavitt to Oregon is its proximity to his hometown. He is from West Linn, Oregon, a suburb just south of Portland and about an hour and a half north of Eugene.

Miami

Mario Cristobal’s approach at quarterback has featured a turn to portal acquisitions in his last two seasons with the Hurricanes. Miami has produced a No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft with Cam Ward (Washington State) and is in the midst of a College Football Playoff run with Carson Beck (Georgia).

It would not be a surprise if the Hurricanes once again decided to take a look at the transfer portal in the 2026 offseason. Leavitt has been a target for Miami since before the portal opened.

LSU

Lane Kiffin has a reputation with successful transfer portal quarterbacks. Jaxson Dart (USC) was a first-round draft choice in the 2025 NFL draft, and Trinidad Chambliss (Ferris State) is in the midst of leading Ole Miss on a College Football Playoff run.

As a program, each of the last two quarterbacks to transfer in and start for LSU have Heisman Trophies to their names. Jayden Daniels transferred from Arizona State to LSU in 2022, a path Leavitt would take should he choose the Tigers.