The transfer portal is reshaping college sports for better or worse – The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Editor’s Note: All opinion section content reflects the views of the individual author only and does not represent a stance taken by The Collegian or its editorial board.

The collegiate transfer portal has destroyed sports as a whole, even though it provides student-athletes with the opportunity to move to stronger teams or earn more money. The primary issue is that the portal launches simultaneously with NCAA football bowl games and the NCAA basketball tournament.

Athletes are put in a difficult situation. They must choose whether to stay and play with their current team or leave to join another, risking the remainder of their season and potentially a championship. And due to the possibility of injury, teams attempting to recruit students from other teams do not want those football or basketball players to continue playing.

However, supporters do not get to witness teams at their peak because the bowl games and national championships are taking place at the same time. Many college fans dislike professional sports because of the business aspect, but the collegiate sports industry has also turned into a business.

Well-known collegiate sports fans are there for the camaraderie and loyalty.

“Over the first six years of the portal era, the total number of FBS players who have transferred has more than doubled from 1,561 in 2018-19 to over 3,700 in last year’s cycle, according to NCAA transfer data,” an article from NBC Sports reads. “The total number of players among FBS scholarship transfers rose from 1,946 in 2021-22 to 2,303 in 2022-23, and then up to 2,707 in 2023-24. In 2023-24, the total number of NCAA football players across all divisions who entered the portal exceeded 11,000.”

“Teams that aren’t as successful in the sports industry or don’t have a reputation for being competitive find it particularly difficult to improve and flourish thanks to the transfer portal. While teams in the Mountain West, PAC-12, Mid-American Conference and American Athletic Conference will continue to shrink and possibly even disappear, teams in the Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten and Big 12 will get bigger and better.”

This was disappointing for college football fans across the country. In an attempt to win for the fans, third-string quarterbacks made their debuts playing for their respective schools during college football bowl games. Hearing and seeing this all at once can be quite upsetting.

While his team, the Michigan Wolverines, was still in the March Madness tournament, college basketball players like Justin Pippen — Scottie Pippen’s son — entered the transfer portal. “More than 900 D1 players entered the transfer portal on day one,” according to Bleacher Report.

When I argue that the transfer portal shouldn’t open until after the national championship or until that team has finished playing for the season, I think I’m speaking for almost every sports fan. This makes it possible for basketball’s March Madness tournament and football’s bowl games to still have real competition.

As supporters, we must be able to see the finest plays from every team and game.

Teams that aren’t as successful in the sports industry or don’t have a reputation for being competitive find it particularly difficult to improve and flourish thanks to the transfer portal. While teams in the Mountain West, PAC-12, Mid-American Conference and American Athletic Conference will continue to shrink and possibly even disappear, teams in the Southeastern Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten and Big 12 will get bigger and better.

For a few years now, there have only been two teams in the PAC-12. Some teams planning to participate in the PAC-12 in the future include Colorado State, Fresno State and Boise State.

What does that mean for the MW? Yes — a few clubs will also migrate there, but eventually, the conference as a whole will disappear.

What threshold will the NCAA set? When will exciting, competitive games be available to NCAA fans once again? College sports and its fans thrive on upsets, underdogs and tales that people will find hard to believe in the future.

Reach AJ Merriman at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @RMCollegianSpts.

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