The transfer portal is open in college football for a couple more days, but with Week 2 in the books, it’s time to talk about winners and losers. In the Big 12, there are players coming and going, and it’s time to list some winners and losers based on how things have played out over the last several days since the transfer portal window opened on January 2nd. Here’s a look at our top three winners and losers after the second week of the portal being open.
These were my portal winners and losers after the first week, so this is more about who has had success over the last seven days, not for the full window.
Winners: Utah Utes
Utah picked up some much-needed running back help this week, with Steve Chavez-Soto coming from San Jose State. He put together an impressive freshman campaign with the Spartans in 2025. After signing with San José State as a three-star prospect, the Chino, California, native recorded 448 yards on 87 carries, equating to the No. 10 best yards per average attempt in the Mountain West (5.1). His seven rushing touchdowns were ninth-most in the league.
He wasn’t the only Spartan to join the Utes. Jireh Moe, a nose tackle who played his freshman season at San José State is joining the Utes for the 2026 season. The 6-foot-tall, 280 pound Californian became the third defensive lineman and the fifth player on the defensive side of the ball overall to sign with the Utes during the transfer portal cycle.
Utah also needs help to replenish its offensive line, and they did that with Montana State transfer Cedric Jefferson. At 6-foot-5 inches, 300 pounds, Jefferson has great size and length to play either tackle spot. He has solid athleticism and potential to continue growing as a player under new Ute offensive line coach Jordan Gross. Jefferson joins the Utes with two more seasons of eligibility.
Utah doesn’t have the splashiest portal class, but this past week they added key pieces at key positions, and their average portal addition rating of 86.5 is Top 5 in the Big 12.
Loser: Houston Cougars
Houston hasn’t added much at all in the second week of the transfer portal window. Maybe that because they feel they don’t need to, but this program can’t rest on its laurels after a strong 9-3 regular season in the Big 12.
Their most recent addition was Texas Tech wide receiver Tyson Turner. The pass-catcher spent two seasons with the Red Raiders but never found a consistent role in the offense, leading to him entering the transfer portal in early January. With former Houston wide receiver Stephon Johnson‘s request for another year of eligibility getting denied, it was vital for Fritz and his staff to add to the program’s wide receiver depth. However, it’s unclear if Turner can be an immediate impact player in 2026 for the Cougars.
They needed some linebacker help, and added legacy player Miller Malone, who showed some productivity at Western Kentucky, along with Jaden Yates from Ole Miss, but can they really fill the role of Corey Platt Jr., who left for Texas Tech?
Winners: BYU Cougars
Speaking of average portal addition rating, BYU‘s is quietly 87.13, which is third behind Texas Tech and Arizona State.
On Friday, BYU got ones of its best portal additions yet in Oregon tight end Roger Saleapaga. A 4-star prospect in the 2024 class out of Orem HS, BYU recruited Saleapaga in high school before he ultimately committed to Oregon. Saleapaga played in 26 games for Oregon over two seasons, seeing time on both special teams and at tight end. He didn’t produce big numbers, but expect BYU to give him a lot of room to grow, and he joins a tight ends room that has a lot of new talent, with USC’s Walker Lyons joining the program last week as well.
This week, BYU also added Cade Uluave, who was ranked by 247Sports as the No. 1 linebacker in the transfer portal for the 2026 cycle. He’s the 60th overall-ranked prospect in the portal. The 6-foot-1, 235-pound linebacker received interest from Michigan, Texas, among others, while in the Transfer Portal.
They beefed up the linebackers room as well with an underrated piece with Kansas State’s Jake Clifton, who played the 2022 and 2023 campaigns with Kansas State, winning a Big 12 championship in 2022, before putting his football career on hold to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 18 games with the Wildcats, Clifton totaled 36 total tackles with two stops for loss.
Loser: Colorado Buffaloes
Yes, Colorado had a busy second week in the transfer portal, adding several pieces at positions of need, and now the Buffaloes have a Top 5 class in the 247 Sports Big 12 team rankings. They found their starting center, and did it while hurting another Big 12 team in the process, with Houston’s Demetrius Hunter.
However, this team lost its best player in offensive tackle Jordan Seaton, who shocked the Buffaloes and all of college football by entering the transfer portal earlier this week. While the Buffaloes have added a bunch of pieces, I do these rankings by also making it about who a team has lost in the last few days, not just who they have added. And while there has been work done on the offensive and defensive lines in the portal this offseason, we were expecting CU to be better on both lines last season, and there wasn’t much evidence to suggest that ended up happening. Whether it’s a talent or development issue is debatable, but when you lose an expected future first round NFL Draft pick like Seaton, it’s a bad week for the program.
Winner: Kansas State Wildcats
Kansas State is closing strong under new head coach Collin Klein. Most recently, they added a sub-4.3-second 40-yard speedster with Brandon White, a great fit for Klein. Also this week, the Cats beefed up their defensive line. The first was Oklahoma State EDGE Wendell Gregory, a top-five pass rusher in the transfer portal, ranked inside the top 25 available transfers. And the second came just a few minutes later with the addition of Kennesaw State’s Elijah Hill.
Hill, a 6-foot-2 pass rusher from Bryant, Arkansas, is coming off a dominant season with the Owls, where he recorded nine sacks as a true freshman. Due to his stellar numbers, Hill earned a three-star grade, right on the cusp of four-star honors from On3, as well as the 185th-ranked player available, and the 20th-ranked edge rusher in the portal.
This week also included former Georgia safety Adrian Mattox joining the Wildcats, along with former Oregon running back Jay Harris. And with all these recent additions, K-State is shooting up the 247Sports rankings with the No. 6 ranked transfer portal class in the Big 12, along with an average player rating that is now in the top half of the Big 12.
Loser: UCF Knights
Earlier this week, in an overlooked move, UCF QB Davi Belfort entered the transfer portal on Jan. 12, leaving the Knights with just three scholarship quarterbacks. He was the back up for the final month of the 2025 season as well. Now the Knights will need to dive back into the portal to find a replacement, which is difficult considering how late we are in the process.
Most recently, UCF brought in EDGE L A Jessie Harrold from Florida State, who has high upside, but needs to develop into a solid P4 contributor. Also, UCF welcomes home Florida native and former Colorado safety TJ Branch, who redshirted last season. Potential? Sure. But that’s all we can call it right now.
And when it comes to incoming transfer portal rankings, UCF is currently ranked 15th in the Big 12. And for a team that is struggling to find its footing in the Big 12, the Knights could have used a monster haul in the transfer portal, and thus far that has not happened.
