Today: Seismic portal commitments, Transfer Portal predictions, Indiana thrashes Oregon, and CFB vs. NFL ratings.

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TRANSFER PORTAL

Sam Leavitt commits: Recapping the weekend's top portal decisions

The transfer portal continues to reshape rosters across the country as programs stockpile experience, upside, and immediate impact ahead of the offseason grind. We're here to get you up to speed on the weekend's notable portal additions, with countless more decisions still to come.

QB Sam Leavitt: LSU

Arizona State QB transfer Sam Leavitt is expected to sign with LSU, per On3's Pete Nakos and Hayes Fawcett. The No. 1 overall player in the portal, Leavitt took his visit to Baton Rouge on Jan. 5 and was pursued hard by new coach Lane Kiffin. Kiffin also landed FCS standout QB Landen Clark from Elon this weekend.

QB Dylan Raiola: Oregon

Raiola heads to Oregon after two seasons at Nebraska, giving Dan Lanning a high-upside replacement as Dante Moore departs for the NFL Draft. A former five-star prospect and one of the most anticipated freshmen in recent memory, Raiola entered the portal as On3's No. 12 overall player and No. 5 quarterback available. After beginning his career as a Georgia commit before flipping to Nebraska, the Buford, Georgia native now looks for a fresh start in Eugene with three years of eligibility remaining.

WR Cam Coleman: Texas

The top WR in the portal arrives in Austin after two productive seasons at Auburn, where he quickly became a central piece of the Tigers' passing game. In 2025, he posted 56 catches for 708 yards and five touchdowns, finishing his Auburn career with more than 1,300 receiving yards and 13 scores. A former Five-Star Plus+ prospect and one of the highest-rated recruits in Auburn history, Coleman gives Arch Manning and Texas a proven, high-ceiling target with SEC experience.

EDGE Chaz Coleman: Tennessee

The former Penn State freshman transfer heads to Knoxville after emerging as one of the portal's top defensive players. Coleman appeared in nine games, recording eight tackles, three tackles for loss, a sack, and multiple forced turnovers. He earned On3 True Freshman Midseason All-American honors and entered the portal as the No. 1 EDGE and No. 3 overall player available, making him a major addition for Josh Heupel's defense.

QB Deuce Knight: Ole Miss

Knight returns to his home state after transferring from Auburn. In limited action as a true freshman, he accounted for six total touchdowns, including a breakout start against Mercer that featured explosive runs and a 91-yard touchdown pass. A former five-star and top-five quarterback in the 2025 class, Knight now joins Ole Miss with significant long-term upside.

WR Eric Singleton Jr.: Florida

Singleton lands in Gainesville after stops at Georgia Tech and Auburn, bringing consistency and experience to Florida's receiver room. He caught 58 passes for 534 yards last season with the Tigers and previously topped 750 receiving yards during a standout year at Georgia Tech. Singleton entered the portal as a top-40 overall player and gives new head coach Jon Sumrall another reliable weapon on the perimeter.

WR Isaiah Horton: Texas A&M

Horton makes the move to College Station after a productive lone season at Alabama, where he led the Crimson Tide with eight receiving touchdowns. Across 15 games, he totaled 511 yards on 42 catches, building on a strong multi-year run at Miami before transferring. Horton adds proven red-zone production and experience to Texas A&M's passing attack.

RB Hollywood Smothers: Alabama Texas

Smothers flips his commitment to Texas after initially pledging to Alabama, coming off a strong season at NC State. He rushed for 939 yards while adding value as a receiver, finishing the year as the No. 2 running back in the portal rankings. His versatility adds immediate competition to the Longhorns' backfield.

See the latest Transfer Portal moves.

TRANSFER PORTAL

Pete Nakos calls his shot: Predicting where the top portal players will commit

Wendell Gregory, Qua Russaw, Keon Keeley, DeAndre Moore

Let's break down the latest intel on the top available players in the transfer portal and where they could land. These are not RPMs, but where these players are trending if today were National Signing Day. The nature of the transfer portal is as fluid as it has ever been, and NIL deals can quickly alter destinations.

Oklahoma State EDGE Wendell Gregory

In his lone year with the Cowboys, Gregory appeared in all twelve games this fall. He'd go on to post 27 total tackles, 12.0 of those being for loss with 4.0 sacks, with one forced fumble and one pass deflection. Texas Tech once looked like the leader in this recruitment, but he went on to take visits to Wisconsin, Texas, and Kansas State. The Wildcats are the latest school to hold momentum in the recruitment.

Prediction: Kansas State

Confidence Level: Low

Alabama's Qua Russaw and James Smith

Ohio State, Missouri, Tennessee, and Notre Dame all landed visits in recent days from the pair of Alabama defensive players. Now with the three-day dead period, Qussaw and Smith are expected to enter decision mode. The early buzz following the visits favors Ohio State, which has been seeking to add transfer talent to its front seven.

Prediction: Ohio State

Confidence Level: Low

Texas WR DeAndre Moore Jr.

According to On3's Steve Wiltfong, Deion Sanders and Colorado are trending for Texas transfer wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. The 6-foot-0, 192-pounder will have one season left to play after appearing in 36 games for the Longhorns over his first three seasons. In the last two seasons, Moore hauled in 77 passes totaling 988 yards and 11 touchdowns. Ole Miss and Kentucky are the other contenders to land Moore.

Prediction: Colorado

Confidence Level: Low

Michigan OL Ty Haywood

A former top-100 recruit, Haywood was committed to Alabama from July 2024 to January 2025 before flipping to Michigan. The offensive lineman is now in the transfer portal after one season in Ann Arbor, and he will have four years of eligibility remaining. The Crimson Tide has quickly emerged as the team to beat for Haywood. On3's Steve Wiltfong and I have logged picks for Haywood to land in Tuscaloosa.

Prediction: Alabama

Confidence Level: Medium

See all 9 of Nakos' predictions.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF

Curt Cignetti's keys to the game on full display in Indiana's thrashing of Oregon

ATLANTA – The morning before Curt Cignetti's team punched its ticket to the national title game, a reporter asked the Indiana coach for two keys to the Hoosiers' Peach Bowl matchup with Oregon. Cignetti responded by handing over all the keys.

"We talk about the same thing every single game," Cignetti replied. "Line of scrimmage, run the ball, stop the run, affect the quarterback, protect the quarterback, turnover ratio. We're number one in the country in explosive plays … critical situations … and [special] teams has to be a win. Every game, same stuff."

Indiana cruised to a 56-22 win on Friday that was done being a competitive sporting event by the middle of the second quarter. The Hoosiers once again looked like the ultimate machine, bringing Cignetti's relentless repetition to life. They made precious few mistakes, and every mistake by Oregon was punished severely. It was dominant enough that afterward, Cignetti briefly let his guard down, saying that he was thinking about cracking open a beer rather than the national title game.

In the championship, Indiana will face a Miami team that survived a sloppy Fiesta Bowl win over Ole Miss. Even on its home field, Miami will need to be nearly perfect to beat the Hoosiers.

Here's how Indiana engineered the first CFP semifinal blowout of the 12-team era through Cignetti's keys.

Line of scrimmage: Indiana mauled Oregon up front, and no play captured that dominance better than Roman Hemby's first-quarter run that gained 11 yards to the Ducks' 6-yard line. Left tackle Carter Smith blocked two defenders by himself while center Pat Coogan pulled and erased safety Aaron Flowers. It set the tone for everything that followed.

Run the ball: Indiana averaged just 3.3 yards per carry in the first half, but never drifted from its identity. The Hoosiers ran the ball 20 times in 31 plays, making it clear they would keep pounding and trust the cumulative effect.

Stop the run: The score took care of this early. Indiana allowed only nine rushing yards in the first half, with sacks accounting for minus-25. Oregon never established any physical foothold.

Affect the quarterback: Even before the dam broke, the Hoosiers were popping Dante Moore, even on plays when he managed to squeeze off throws to receivers running crossing routes. But by the second quarter, the Hoosiers started getting home. Moore was rattled, hurried, and eventually overwhelmed.

Protect the quarterback: Aside from one bizarre Fernando Mendoza sequence that ended in a sack, Indiana kept its quarterback clean while the game was competitive. Mendoza calmly delivered throws and avoided mistakes.

Turnover ratio: Indiana was plus-three in the first half, starting with a D'Angelo Ponds pick-six on the game's opening play. After Oregon briefly answered, Moore lost a fumble that Indiana converted into points. Later, a perfectly timed stunt by Daniel Ndukwe and Mario Landino forced another turnover that effectively ended the night.

Indiana brutally punished every Oregon mistake. The Hoosiers had almost flawlessly executed the plan Cignetti demands they follow every game.

All that remained was a confetti rain.

But the Ducks still had to endure 32 more football minutes of pain.

Read the full breakdown from Andy Staples.

🚨Headlines

SPORTS BUSINESS

How college football's TV ratings compared to NFL for 2025 regular season

Throughout the fall and into winter, football once again proved to be the dominant draw on television. Both the NFL and college football posted year-over-year gains during their respective regular seasons, reinforcing the sport's continued hold on TV audiences.

College football viewership increased 2% during the regular season when comparing Nielsen Big Data + Panel data to last year. That growth included 11 games that surpassed 10 million viewers, led by the regular-season finale between Michigan and Ohio State. The Buckeyes' Week 14 victory averaged 18.4 million viewers on FOX.

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For comparison, the NFL averaged 18.7 million viewers during its regular season, according to Nielsen Big Data + Panel data and Adobe Analytics where applicable. The league said that marked a 10% increase from 2024. However, when looking strictly at Nielsen Big Data + Panel figures to create an apples-to-apples comparison with college football numbers compiled by On3, the NFL average comes in at 18.4 million viewers, which is also a 4% year-over-year increase.

NFL, college football drawing huge TV ratings

The NFL remains king when it comes to TV ratings. Regular-season games accounted for 89 of the top 100 television shows since the 2025 season began. The biggest audience of the season arrived on Thanksgiving, when the Dallas Cowboys' win over the Kansas City Chiefs drew 57.3 million viewers on CBS, shattering the record for the most-watched NFL regular-season game.

Still, college football continues to see its own success. During the 2025 regular season, a record number of games topped the 10 million-viewer mark, with ABC emerging as the biggest winner. The network aired 21 of the year's most-watched games, led by the Lone Star Showdown between Texas and Texas A&M, which averaged 13.0 million viewers.

FOX also delivered major audiences, airing the two most-watched college football games of the regular season. Ohio State's win over Michigan averaged 18.4 million viewers, while the Buckeyes' Week 1 victory over Texas drew 16.6 million.

That momentum carried into the postseason. Non-College Football Playoff bowl games saw a 13% increase in viewership across ESPN networks, which air 33 of the 36 bowl games. ABC delivered the four most-watched non-CFP postseason matchups.

How NFL impacted CFP viewership

College Football Playoff viewership also continued to rise. The Rose Bowl led the way with 23.9 million viewers on New Year's Day, while the Cotton Bowl averaged 19.0 million. Both topped the average NFL regular-season game. Overall, CFP quarterfinals averaged 19.3 million viewers, a 14% year-over-year increase, and CFP viewership is up 3% through the first two rounds.

However, head-to-head matchups with the NFL on Dec. 20 impacted viewership for CFP games airing on TNT. While ESPN saw strong numbers in the first round, games sublicensed to TNT went against two NFL divisional contests on FOX, contributing to lower audiences and fueling continued discussion about CFP scheduling and NFL competition.

Read the full breakdown.

TRIVIA

Now here's a guy...

Below, you'll find 3 facts about a random college football player. You'll try to guess who the player is based on the facts. Let's go.

I was a true freshman at Ole Miss who lined up all over the field and started five of my first six games, showing my versatility as both a runner and receiver before an injury cut the season short.
By my junior year, I had become a do-it-all weapon and earned second-team All-SEC honors after piling up more than 1,200 yards from scrimmage.
As a senior, I made SEC history by rushing for over 1,000 yards and catching for more than 500 in the same season, highlighted by a school-record 282 rushing yards in one game.

Answer at the bottom.

SHAREWORTHY