If you had to pick, would you change the college football transfer portal, or have the season end closer to Jan. 1?
Major changes have altered the college football landscape over the past few seasons, including the expansion of the College Football Playoff and the addition of the transfer portal. For coaches and players, the two don’t fit together well. For the universities involved, the academic calendar, getting kids enrolled in classes and making sure they’re on campus in time is another piece to the puzzle.
For everyone, including fans, the National Championship getting pushed back even later in January doesn’t seem appealing either. So when it comes to the changes in the sport, would you rather change the transfer portal window or get the Championship game closer to Jan. 1?
Option #1: Have the CFP end on (or at least close to) Jan. 1 each year
With the expansion of the postseason, holding the National Championship on Jan. 1 seems less and less likely. But with this upcoming season’s National Championship scheduled for Jan. 19, 2026, and subsequent titles also expected in late January, it feels like an issue that needs to be addressed. The national titles during the BCS and four-team CFP eras were played about a week sooner.
It was tough to believe the season still wasn’t over by that point this past season. While it’s only one sample size, the National Championship TV ratings declined year-over-year. It was still the most-watched of the 12-team playoff games, but these are things that will likely be looked at over a few years. We talk about the amount of money influencing the sport, and ratings for the postseason seem like a surefire thing to factor into the decision-making.
Option #2: Change the transfer portal windows
The transfer portal opens at two different times for football — in December while the season is still going on, and again a few months later in the spring. When it comes to the transfer portal window, the biggest critics are almost always the coaches. For many, they’d like to see the portal open after the season. The thought of trying to keep a team together while playing for a National Championship isn’t ideal.
There have been suggestions, even from the NCAA, that they could get rid of one of the windows and open it up at a different time when the season is over. However, the windows aren’t unique to college football, and every sport is dealing with the same issues. It’s not like transferring is an easy process either — you have to navigate admissions and look at which credits will transfer.
I understand the problems coaches have with the transfer portal, but I think changes to the schedule are more valuable for the sport overall
I’m going to start by saying I don’t have a ton of sympathy for coaches complaining about balancing multiple responsibilities during the playoffs. It might not be easy to game plan for a playoff game while also having conversations with players about what they’re going to do after the season, but I don’t think that’s the most important thing to tackle here.
Others disagree and see the portal as a world without rules that’s ruining the sport, but I think it’s one more thing that puts a little more control with the players instead of the institutions. I’m personally okay with that going untouched for the next few years.
The powers that be need to look seriously at the length of the season and reconsider the date for the National Championship. The current calendar extends way too late. I love college football, but I don’t think a longer, drawn-out season improves the sport. The separation that used to happen between the end of college football and the Super Bowl added some differentiation. With many traditions seemingly down the drain at this point, can we please just do something for tradition’s sake and have the title game played closer to New Year’s Day?
What are your thoughts? Would you rather move up the National Championship or change the transfer portal? Let us know in the comments below!