Reports emerged on Thursday that the NCAA's football oversight committee hasvoted to approve a single winter transfer period. Players would have 10 days, starting on Jan. 2, to enter the transfer portal and find a new program before being locked in for the next season.
The administrative committee still needs to approve the change in policy, but the decision would completely alter the landscape of the sport after it just began to settle from massive realignment and player movements due to the advent of NIL.
If approved, the 10-day window would fall right smack in the middle of the College Football Playoff, which is scheduled to last from Dec. 19-Jan. 19 this season. It's not clear just how thought through this decision was, because there are some obvious issues that will arise from it.
NCAA's single transfer portal decision will create more problems than solutions
Narrowing the original format of two transfer windows down to one the correct move by the NCAA; there aren't many opponents to that idea. However, the timing of that single window was always the main concern.
This new winter window would fall just before the College Football Playoff semifinals, meaning national championship-contending teams could be in danger of losing key depth pieces at a critical juncture in their seasons as second- or third-string players understandably start to think about their individual futures.
Those players can't be blamed if they already have an indication that there won't be room for them in spring camp, or that there are obvious starting opportunities for them elsewhere. But why punish teams by potentially whittling down their rosters severely in the postseason?
The NCAA could've easily chosen a single spring transfer window instead, allowing every team to finish the entire season before players make decisions to depart or stay for another year. Programs would have time to sift through players that maybe aren't up to snuff for their schemes and thus give them the courtesy to find a new home rather than being locked into a season where they are unlikely to see the field.
That option wastes little time for the players and schools, avoiding unnecessary drama and even allowing the opportunity for those farther down the depth chart to prove themselves or realize they need a change of scenery. But the NCAA rarely thinks of these things, so prepare for more chaos starting this winter.