College football teams around the country are preparing for the season as Spring practices are well underway. Around the Country, at the Power 4 teams, are undergoing positional battles that could determine the race for the National Championship. Traditionally at this time of year, teams are preparing for the second wave of chaos with the Spring Transfer Portal.
This fall saw the Spring Transfer Portal window end as the sport moved to a single Transfer Portal window system. While the change will be good for plenty of reasons, there are 3 teams who could've used the spring window the most.
The 3 teams who needed the Spring transfer window the most
Clemson Tigers
The Clemson Tigers are currently in the middle of an overall underwhelming quarterback battle, which will carry into the Fall. Chandler Morris losing his eligibility case for another season took away another potential option for the Tigers. Dabo Swinney isn't the biggest fan of the Transfer Portal, but this may have been a case where he needed to in such a pivotal season.
Duke Blue Devils
Heading into the final day of the regular transfer portal window, Duke seemed to be in a perfect place, but Miami missing out on their targets led to Darian Mensah joining the Canes after a legal battle. Given that Duke got it's buyout money after the Transfer Portal window closed, the Blue Devils could've hit the Spring portal hard for a starter and a wide receiver to replace Cooper Barkate, but now Manny Diaz's team is hurt by the timing of Mensah's decision.
Tennessee Volunteers
Josh Heupel and Tennessee head into 2026 needing a bounce-back season after their 8-5 season in 2025. The issue for Heupel is that he heads into 2026 looking for a starting quarterback as he'll have a battle between underclassmen George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon, along with Colorado backup Ryan Staub. Given how Tennessee tried to land Sam Leavitt, they'd likely be the school to watch in the Spring window for the best quarterback to shake free.