The Transfer Portal is saving college football

It has only been a few years since the transfer portal became a huge thing in college football. Although the NCAA has allowed players to transfer, the system did not allow players to play immediately after. It became common law that a player must sit an entire year if he transfers to another school inside the same division level.

However, that was when the rules of college football made sense and there were multiple teams capable of winning the national title any given year.

In an effort to level the college football playing field and spread out the talent to all areas of the country, the NCAA implemented the transfer portal. The portal allows for players to put their names into a national database that allows other programs to reach out to them.

The only draw back is that the player’s current school does not have to hold their scholarship. Once a player has enter his name, it is a direct signal that he is interested in leaving .

So, how are players leaving programs whenever they feel like it saving college football?

Simple, those players that are leaving are talented like the other players at their current program. The issue is that they’re only so many starting spots to give out.

After two years of sitting on the bench with little to no playing time, you can see why a player might decide to leave for a better opportunity. Remember, the goal is to make it to the NFL. Without any recent film, how are players going to achieve that?

Leveling the playing field

Most might think that the programs at the top would continue to corner the best players in the country; well that is true. Recruits still go to the best programs in the country even if they have to sit a year.

Needless to say, those programs will always recruit at the highest level, but the players already on the roster will only see competition. Again, after sitting on the bench for a season or two, players start to look for better.

This is where programs who aren’t as successful or haven’t been as successful in a longtime come in. Those players that leave for other options were still 4 or 5-star recruits.

Leaving a program like Alabama for a program like UCF or even Appalachian State can give a player the much needed opportunity he was looking for.

This is where leveling the playing field has shown itself in 2022. Smaller programs who are loaded with former 4 or 5 star recruits are putting up bigger fights than year before.

App State for example stunned #6 Texas A&M with a multitude of former power 5 players. UCF, another dominating group of 5 program has added some talent.

Additionally, Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Luke Fickell added some Power 5 talent leading into 2021. That same talent helped the Cincinnati become the first G5 program to reach the playoffs.

Although, the best talent will still jump at the chance to go Power 5, the depth at those school will suffer. We wanted competitive balance, and it is apparent that the Transfer Portal is creating that.