I wanted to talk about the portal post closing, but as it stands there are a ton of unresolved portal signings. The so-called last day suffers from a news lag that, frankly, surprises me. I can say this however: the portal era is officially here. Players are moving at an unprecedented clip–to the point that you cannot assume that a player who is on the Spring Roster, even as a starter, will be on the fall roster. You cannot trust in your depth at all until the fall hits and even then you have them for that season to be certain, but all bets are off come bowl time.
I enjoy the drama of college football largely because of the surprise factor and the disparity in presumed skill. It turns out that high school is not always the greatest indicator for success at the next level. It can be, and it often is, but I’ve watched the process unfold and I can tell you that the kid who was a star before may have been that guy because he peaked early. College doesn’t care. The expectation is that you get better and your game conforms to what the team needs. Scheme matters. Having the right players and having depth matters. The portal messes with that–especially when players can switch schools yearly without penalty and ‘collectives’ can pay you outside the scholarship. I get it though. These guys are chasing the bag and I don’t blame them. Hell, I am still chasing the bag. The game is fun and all, but you need money to survive in this world.
So, I’ll get to a portal reflection when the information presents itself. Until then, back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Some Thoughts:
- Speaking of which, what happened to the Daily Show and Last Week Tonight? Neither show aired this monday…