College football is far different than any other sport, especially with the way that rivalries can be formed. While there are rivalries that have spanned 100+ years, the best beef in college football can be spawned overnight. The transfer portal has added a whole new wrinkle to this sport, and has added to the way rivalries are born.
This offseason, the coaching carousel brought us a ton of drama with high profile head coaches getting fired and others leaving great jobs for better jobs. Adding in some drama in the Transfer Portal, and we have 3 new massive rivalries in college football.
Ranking the 3 new rivalries born in the 2026 offseason
3. Miami vs Duke
On the final day of the Transfer Portal being opened, Duke was dealt the biggest blow possible as star quarterback Darian Mensah announced his plans to transfer. The loss was then made even bigger when star wide receiver Cooper Barkate announced his plans to leave with Darian Mensah. Duke and Mensah went to court eventually reaching an agreement allowing him to transfer to Miami.
The issue is that all the Duke fans claimed that Miami tampered with Mensah which was even part of the court case, but nothing has happened. Duke likely received a buyout from Mensah, but the fanbase hasn't come close to getting the ending they wanted and the outrage will live on.
2. Dabo Swinney Vs Ole Miss
The moment Dabo Swinney found himself battling with Ole Miss, it should've been mandatory that every schedule was moved around to make these teams play each other. Dabo Swinney has long been the voice against the Transfer Portal, and a beef for Swinney spawning from it only makes it so much funnier.
Dabo Swinney called out Pete Golding by name for texting and tampering with Cal transfer Luke Ferrelli who ended up transfering out of Clemson and to Ole Miss leading to calls for a change in the sport. While the outrage was loud, we'll likely never see anything come from this or with the way the NCAA operates it'll happen far down the line when everyone forgot about it.
1. Lane Kiffin Vs Ole Miss
The saga that will never seemingly end is Lane Kiffin's departure from Ole Miss which the Rebels fans still won't let go on social media. Kiffin deciding to leave a team in the middle of a storybook season, ahead of the College Football Playoff for a job at a rival SEC program is one of the biggest stories of all time. Add in the Playoff run Ole Miss went on under Pete Golding, and all the staffers trading places at each school, and there's a ton of bad blood.
Then the Transfer Portal opened and both teams made big scores picking at losses from the other school. Ole Miss landed former 5-star recruit Carius Curne giving the Rebels an instant plug and play offensive lineman from the Tigers. Lane Kiffin brought with him Winston Watkins, TJ Dottery, and star pass rusher Princewill Umanmielen.
The rivalry certainly won't end, but these two teams need to face off, and they will back in Oxford on September 19th. If Lane Kiffin thought his return to Knoxville was ugly, the fact that this game will be so recent will make for an incredible matchup.