Ranking the best NCAA football transfer portal classes for 2025 - ESPN

Whether it was players joining rosters or new entries into the transfer portal seeking fresh opportunities, player movement was a key storyline of the 2024 season. The second transfer window has now closed in 2025, and the focus will shift to how these movements will impact the College Football Playoff next fall.

Some players will continue to take visits and find new homes, but many teams already have made significant additions via transfers. The transfer route, though, is a two-way street, and losses can impact rosters as well — and that needs to be accounted for.

Here's a look at the 10 teams that mastered the winter and spring portal windows to upgrade their rosters.

After hitting the portal hard this winter to amass one of the Big 12's most improved rosters, Joey McGuire and the Red Raiders landed their most high-profile addition in the spring portal. Former Stanford edge defender David Bailey, who has 14.5 career sacks, transferred to Lubbock in the wake of Troy Taylor's firing, giving the Red Raiders a disruptive edge presence. He has the chance to develop into an early-round NFL draft pick. They can pair Bailey with Georgia Tech transfer Romello Height, who arrived over the winter after making 34 stops and 2.5 sacks last year. This overhauls a Red Raiders pass rush that finished in the bottom half of the conference in sacks in 2024.

Texas Tech's newfound willingness to spend in the portal yielded nearly 20 additions. UCF defensive tackle transfer Lee Hunter should provide additional immediate help on defense and should become one of the top defensive linemen in the Big 12. Howard Sampson (North Carolina), Hunter Zambrano (Illinois State) and Will Jados (Miami, Ohio) will help on the offensive line. Jados is one of