NCAA football transfer portal: Shortened time period, removal of letter of intent and more explained

The NCAA's Division I Council has cast its votes to shorten the transfer portal windows for both FBS and FCS football. The vote affects men's and women's basketball. The announcement of the vote came on Tuesday, Oct. 8, and reduced the total number of days players in FBS and FCS can enter the transfer portal from 45 to 30.

This change affects how long transfer window lasts, and the purpose is improve stability for teams and players. If players are in the transfer portal for less time, they have more time to acclimate with their new teams and can more easily adjust to their new environments. While this change reduces the number of days, it preserves the spring transfer window.

The NCAA will continue with a 20-day winter transfer window starting on Dec. 9 (the Monday after conference championship games) and ending on Dec. 28. The spring transfer window lasts for 10 days and will be from April 16-25 this season.

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Why were these transfer portal changes made?

Changes were made to the transfer portal period because the NCAA FBS and FCS oversight committees recommended the elimination of the spring window in August. The reason for this recommendation was to promote roster stability for student-athletes and their athletics programs.

This recommendation comes on the heels of a House settlement from another case that will increase the 85-man scholarship limit to 105. The increase in the number of scholarships available will allow more players to play college sports and promote complexities for roster management.

Additionally, it will affect teams that share budgets with other sports at their schools.

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How will these transfer portal changes affect players and teams?

The changes to the transfer period will likely affect how both players and schools approach the transfer period.

Schools will have a shorter period to determine which players they want to recruit. The coaching staff and management groups will need to more efficiently look through the players in the portal and determine which ones they should try to recruit.

Additionally, players will spend less time worrying about where they will play. The transfer period is a stressful time for players, as most don't know what their future will hold. Shortening this period will help reduce stress for those players and give them more time to acclimate with their new teams.

These changes came on the heels of the NCAA's vote to eliminate the National Letter of Intent Program.