WHAT’S BROKE AND NEEDS FIXING. I’m going to stay with the NCAA transfer portal this week but from a different point of view. Last week I dealt with the unlimited access that an athlete has to the transfer portal. Today I want to deal with the timing of entering the portal as it applies to football as well as basketball.

Let me start with the gridiron portal. There are two windows, one in the winter that goes from December 9th through December 29th, with another in the spring that spans April 15th to April 25th when an athlete can enter.

Now, before I get to the roundball one I know my astute readers and listeners are asking, “Wait a second. Aren’t teams still playing during the winter period?” and the answer is a very loud affirmative.

Here’s an example of what a collegiate pigskin coach is up against. I witnessed firsthand two head coaches of Power Four conference institutions that had to leave a press interview to talk at least one of their players out of the portal.

The basketball portal window is a little different. It opens 30 days after the completion of the second round of the NCAA tournament and concludes before the end of April. This year that time frame is March 24th until April 22nd.

Again, you can see that this is a major conundrum just like football. You have players entering the portal while games are still being played in both sports.

This fix is so easy it’s almost comical. For football, the winter portal opens three days after the NCAA Championship game. This year the contest between Ohio State and Notre Dame was played on January 21st. Under my plan the portal would have opened January 24th and closed on February 14th. All games are concluded.

Same plan for the hoops transfer instrument. Three days after Florida and Houston concluded March Madness on April 7th the window opens on April 10th and closes on April 30th. All outcomes no longer in doubt.  

For the spring portal, it’s even easier. Opens May 1st and shuts May 21st. Everyone is done spring practice by then.

The fact that athletes can enter the portal sometimes within minutes of their season being over is truly ludicrous. Also if you think there isn’t tampering going on with players moving to a different academic institution within 24 hours of entering the transfer portal then I got some swampland near The Everglades in Florida for sale.

Come on NCAA. How about trying to give some assemblance of leadership and get this portion of the portal under control because it’s totally out of control.

Book it Dano.