NCAA Transfer Portal Opens, OU And OSU Brace For Roster Changeups

Beginning on Monday, college football players across the country have 20 days to decide whether or not they should transfer to another university as the NCAA transfer portal opens.

News 9 sports analyst and voice of the Sooners Toby Rowland joined the News 9 team Monday to share what this could mean for college football programs in Oklahoma.

Rowland said several star players across the country have indicated they may enter the transfer portal, which could help bolster programs such as Oklahoma.

"It sounds like there's a tight end at Arkansas, Luke Hasz, who's entered the portal, he's an Oklahoma kid," Rowland said. "That would be a great pickup if the Sooners could land him. One more name I'll give you, Micah Hudson, wide receiver at Texas Tech, former five-star kid that the Sooners were in on in the past, just a few of many names that will be out there that I'm sure Brent Venables and his coaching staff will try to get in on."

Rowland compared the differences between recruiting high school players to the transfer portal as "speed dating," saying schools have a limited window to find a player they want on their roster and offer for them to join.

"When you're recruiting high school players, you spend years evaluating these guys," Rowland said. This is like speed dating, this is like online shopping. The transfer portal, you got to get to know who you want quickly."

However, there are already a few players who announced their intention to exit the Sooners' program, including star quarterback Jackson Arnold and wide receiver Nic Anderson, who missed most of the 2024 season due to injury.

RELATED: OU QB Jackson Arnold Expected To Enter Transfer Portal

"The obvious landing spot for Jackson Arnold is Mississippi State, that's where Jeff Lebby is the head coach," Rowland said. "Jeff Lebby was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma who recruited Jackson Arnold to come here. They run a similar style of offense, although there have been other schools such as Georgia and Auburn that have been mentioned as possible landing spots for him."

As for Anderson, Rowland said the wide receiver could land anywhere in the country.

"I hate to see him go, he's so good," Rowland said. "I know the injuries plagued him so much."

At Oklahoma State, Rowland said the Cowboys are looking for positives after a 3-9 season and the dismissal of the program's offensive and defensive coordinators, as well as an amended contract for head coach Mike Gundy.

RELATED: OSU Parts Ways With OC Kasey Dunn, DC Bryan Nardo

"It's a shocking development when you consider everything that Mike Gundy has done at Oklahoma State," Rowland said. "It was a bad year. It was a terrible year for the Cowboys, they lost nine straight, all in conference play. I'm glad they worked it out."

Rowland said despite the shakeup, he believes Gundy's position as head coach is secure for the immediate future.

"I think Mike Gundy should be able to stay at OSU as long as he wants to," Rowland said. "It got dicey, and fortunately, cooler heads prevailed."

Although the Cowboys' season is over, the Sooners still have one game left.

Oklahoma will travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to face Navy Midshipmen in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl on Dec. 27.

What is the Transfer Portal?

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) transfer portal is a way for student-athletes to transfer between institutions.

The NCAA transfer portal cycle for the 2025 college football season officially opened Monday, Dec. 9, and will close on Saturday, Dec. 28.

Though some players have announced their intentions to transfer prior to Monday, including Oklahoma's Jackson Arnold and Nic Anderson, they could not officially enter the portal until it opened.

The portal launched in 2018, and according to the NCAA, new regulations adopted in 2021 allow student-athletes in Division I football, men's and women's basketball, men's ice hockey, and baseball to change schools using the portal once without sitting out a year after the transfer.