PROVO — There are three seasons in modern college football: the regular season, the postseason, and the portal season.
The steam had yet to rise off the final Pop-Tart and No. 12 BYU's 25-21 win over Georgia Tech that capped the Cougars' first 12-win season in 24 years before players were already choosing to enter the NCAA transfer portal.
The NCAA's 15-day transfer portal window opens Jan. 2, and it will be the only full-sized transfer window of the year after the Division I administrative committee voted in October to consolidate the sport's transfer apparatus into a single phase for all FBS and FCS players beginning in 2026.
Players whose head coach leaves their current team will also have a 15-day window to enter their names into the portal starting five days after a new head coach is hired or announced, as well.
The 2024-25 academic year saw more than 4,900 FBS players and more than 3,200 FCS players enter the transfer portal in a record-setting year for transfer movement, according to ESPN.
Once the portal opened Jan. 2 at 12 a.m. EST, more than 4,000 players entered the portal in the first 12 hours, per ESPN — in large part because of the reduction of opportunities to a single transfer window. More are expected over the next two weeks.
Here's a look at the BYU players who have announced they intend to enter the portal, a move that began immediately after the Cougars' Big 12 title game loss to Texas Tech back on Dec. 6.
— Sani Tuala (@Sani_Tuala) January 2, 2026
The list will be updating as more players enter the portal and commit to new schools.
Early signing class of 2026
