Early portal wish list: Ohio State should target these potential transfers from teams with fired coaches

If these guys end up in the transfer portal, they could make sense for the Buckeyes

Are there any potential transfers from teams with fired coaches who could interest the Buckeyes? (Photo courtesy of Ohio State athletics)

COLUMBUS — Is it too early to start putting together a December/January wish list? While Ohio State’s coaches and players chase a second straight national championship, I promise you that some people inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center are already pondering which players could be available in the transfer portal for the 2026 season and beyond.

And since the coaching carousel is already spinning out of control, there’s less guesswork involved in trying to suss out which programs might be ripe for the picking.

That might sound callous, but that’s the game. Ohio State needs to be thinking that way because the entire sport is looking at the rosters of the 12 programs currently with vacant head coaching jobs, and seeing if there are players who could make sense for them — assuming they enter the transfer portal, of course.

So we’re doing the same thing on behalf of the Buckeyes.