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Look to the Transfer Portal: Discussion thread

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ddann said:
Drake has a football program? This thread delivers.
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rascon said:
“The destination for the majority of recruits entering these conversations is the P4. More specifically, the P2.”
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More accurate is P2, and Miami and ND.

It feels like 1988 all over again when UM and ND were the outliers in college football. Maybe its time for us to go independent again
 



www.cbssports.com

College football's 2026 transfer portal data highlights retention gap across conference tiers

Data reveals the talent gap between the Power Four and Group of Six conferences continues to expand
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com

Consider the retention comparison between the ACC/Big 12 and the Big Ten/SEC in terms of returning first- or second-team all-conference players:

ACC/Big 12: 56.8%
Big Ten/SEC: 97.4%

That's a significant gap between the two halves of the Power Four, which makes sense considering the TV contracts of those four conferences. The Big Ten and SEC's TV deals dwarf the ACC and Big 12's, giving them greater spending power in the largely unregulated landscape of college football in 2026.

That's evident in the transfer portal, where the SEC and Big Ten -- with the sole exception of Damon Wilson II leaving Missouri for Miami -- did not lose any of their top players in the portal.
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It's not just the Big Ten and SEC poaching the ACC and Big 12. Poaching is happening within the ACC and Big 12 as big spenders emerge from the pack.

For example, Texas Tech retained all three of its all-conference returnees from the 2025 season. The Red Raiders also poached Cincinnati all-conference quarterback Brendan Sorsby with a more than $5 million NIL offer. The Red Raiders also added Kansas State all-conference linebacker Austin Romaine out of the portal.

It happened in the ACC, too. Miami didn't lose either of its returning all-conference selections. It did, however, poach a pair of all-ACC players from conference champion Duke, spending millions to land quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Cooper Barkate.
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skyman said:



www.cbssports.com

College football's 2026 transfer portal data highlights retention gap across conference tiers

Data reveals the talent gap between the Power Four and Group of Six conferences continues to expand
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
Click to expand...


"That's evident in the transfer portal, where the SEC and Big Ten -- with the sole exception of Damon Wilson II leaving Missouri for Miami -- did not lose any of their top players in the portal.

It happened in the ACC, too. Miami didn't lose either of its returning all-conference selections. It did, however, poach a pair of all-ACC players from conference champion Duke, spending millions to land quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Cooper Barkate."

... oooohhhh yeah, THE HATE IS REAL.
 
rascon said:
“The destination for the majority of recruits entering these conversations is the P4. More specifically, the P2.”
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I still believe this notion of a P2 is mythology more than reality. If they meant this only for the five stars, then I’d understand. If they broaden the scope, it doesn’t fit the evidence imo.

I don’t see the evidence when looking at top performers in the league. The idea becomes illogical given the fact that receivers like KC Conception, Isaiah Horton, & Colbie Young are top dawgs on their 10+ win SEC teams from the get go despite the supposed stacked up talent of the conference.

23 of the top 50 transfer portal classes were schools outside the B1G and $EC. 4 outta the top 10.

The best recruit in the country is currently committed to a BIG12 school and the best one last year is enrolled at the University of Houston. In 2026, 24 outta the top 50 schools in the team recruiting rankings were outside the so-called P2.

There is no P2 if 5-7 FSU beats Alabama by two touchdowns. South Carolina and Kentucky were crushed by Clemson and Louisville. Georgia Tech v UGA have been one score games back to back years. UF lost to USF yet beat Texas. The ACC finished 8-6 against the SEC.


Penn State under Matt Campbell will not have higher rated recruiting classes than Virginia Tech under James Franklin.

Even before the bowl games and playoffs, there was evidence to suggest the Power 2 is a media fabrication divorced from on-the field results.





The Big 12 went 4-3 (bowls+playoffs included) against the B1G in 2025. Indiana struggled to put away Penn State who lost to a UCLA team that got hammered by Utah. UCLA lost to UNLV and New Mexico. Iowa State beat Iowa.

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grover said:
"That's evident in the transfer portal, where the SEC and Big Ten -- with the sole exception of Damon Wilson II leaving Missouri for Miami -- did not lose any of their top players in the portal.

It happened in the ACC, too. Miami didn't lose either of its returning all-conference selections. It did, however, poach a pair of all-ACC players from conference champion Duke, spending millions to land quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Cooper Barkate."

... oooohhhh yeah, THE HATE IS REAL.
Click to expand...
We additionally don’t know if they didn’t lose any of their top players. We didn’t know Fernando Mendoza was going to be the #1 pick, and we don’t know if Cignetti actually made the right decision in bringing in Hoover while letting younger Mendoza go to Georgia Tech.

The portal rankings are pretty off-base despite their being better evidence than recruiting rankings. Luke Kromenhoek did nothing at Mississippi State. A bunch of ACC and XII guys who transferred in are about to get drafted and they weren’t overly hyped high-profile transfers.

Such a goofy bad piece of journalism. What about Dylan Raiola, Aidan Chiles, Rickey Gibson III, Eugene Wilson III, Cam Coleman, Koi Perch, etc all transferring within the so-called p2.

We’re supposed to gloss over the fact that James Franklin got ~35 former Penn State commits and players to go to VT but none of them are top guys lol. Justice Haynes going to GT isn’t a top player leaving the Big Ten now.

It’s kinda hilarious because we had good transfers from both the SEC and Big Ten last year; high rated ones such as Xavier Lucas and CJ Daniels, low rated ones such as Keointe Scott and Mohammed Toure; and high rated busts like Charles Brantley and Savion Riley.
 
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skyman said:



www.cbssports.com

College football's 2026 transfer portal data highlights retention gap across conference tiers

Data reveals the talent gap between the Power Four and Group of Six conferences continues to expand
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
Click to expand...

How long until g5 schools become like the nba gleague or mlb minor league for elite teams?

I was thinking about it for our qb situation, what if we sent a kid to one of fiu/fau or even famu/bethune to develop. Or just any lower level school that has a similar offense to us so the guy can get reps and develop while we already have a top starting qb from the portal

Like if coleman or nickel went to get reps at fiu, im sure the those schools might not agree but it can have a positive effect on those schools too. We pay a fee like we did to duke for mensah, they get higher rated players and more interest in games because our fans are watching our potential future players play and it’s more talent at that level even if its only for a year or two

If you cant play at an elite school you can go be a big fish in a small pond, develop and then teams will be bidding for you out of the portal
 
cookies said:
We additionally don’t know if they didn’t lose any of their top players. We didn’t know Fernando Mendoza was going to be the #1 pick, and we don’t know if Cignetti actually made the right decision in bringing in Hoover while letting younger Mendoza go to Georgia Tech.

The portal rankings are pretty off-base despite their being better evidence than recruiting rankings. Luke Kromenhoek did nothing at Mississippi State. A bunch of ACC and XII guys who transferred in are about to get drafted and they weren’t overly hyped high-profile transfers.

Such a goofy bad piece of journalism. What about Dylan Raiola, Aidan Chiles, Rickey Gibson III, Eugene Wilson III, Cam Coleman, Koi Perch, etc all transferring within the so-called p2.

We’re supposed to gloss over the fact that James Franklin got ~35 former Penn State commits and players to go to VT but none of them are top guys lol. Justice Haynes going to GT isn’t a top player leaving the Big Ten now.

It’s kinda hilarious because we had good transfers from both the SEC and Big Ten last year; high rated ones such as Xavier Lucas and CJ Daniels, low rated ones such as Keointe Scott and Mohammed Toure; and high rated busts like Charles Brantley and Savion Riley.
Click to expand...


All you gotta do is look at ESPN’s initial 2026 SP+ rankings that came out this week, see Florida at 19 and know the whole thing is rigged towards the P2. 16 of the 20 are P2. Only ND, Miami, Tx Tech and BYU are ranked. It’s a joke.
 
E1k said:
How long until g5 schools become like the nba gleague or mlb minor league for elite teams?

I was thinking about it for our qb situation, what if we sent a kid to one of fiu/fau or even famu/bethune to develop. Or just any lower level school that has a similar offense to us so the guy can get reps and develop while we already have a top starting qb from the portal

Like if coleman or nickel went to get reps at fiu, im sure the those schools might not agree but it can have a positive effect on those schools too. We pay a fee like we did to duke for mensah, they get higher rated players and more interest in games because our fans are watching our potential future players play and it’s more talent at that level even if its only for a year or two

If you cant play at an elite school you can go be a big fish in a small pond, develop and then teams will be bidding for you out of the portal
Click to expand...
The smart G5 football and basketball coaches are selling their schools like the G League. Come here for 2-3 years, develop, play great, graduate if possible, and a bigger school with a larger NIL budget will want you. It is a smart and easy sell for coaches who are willing to embrace it.

The Michigan basketball coaches Dusty may recently said it out loud. He talked about developing a relationship with smaller schools whereby UM would get the first opportunity to recruit their bast players. In turn, if a player at Michigan does not develop as expected, Michigan would encourage him to transfer to one of the smaller schools with which it has a relationship. Creating not a one-way but a two-way street for transfers. Because for every player who transfers “up”, someone is transferring “down”.
 
AtlAtty said:
The smart G5 football and basketball coaches are selling their schools like the G League. Come here for 2-3 years, develop, play great, graduate if possible, and a bigger school with a larger NIL budget will want you. It is a smart and easy sell for coaches who are willing to embrace it.

The Michigan basketball coaches Dusty may recently said it out loud. He talked about developing a relationship with smaller schools whereby UM would get the first opportunity to recruit their bast players. In turn, if a player at Michigan does not develop as expected, Michigan would encourage him to transfer to one of the smaller schools with which it has a relationship. Creating not a one-way but a two-way street for transfers. Because for every player who transfers “up”, someone is transferring “down”.
Click to expand...
Smart business. Imagine if Bailey came to UM out of high school, he would have sat behind Ward, Beck and then transferred without accruing any value (NIL) in the transfer portal. I wish it weren't like this, but if i'm a second-string guy, i'm transferring to a school like N. Texas and getting valuable reps.
 
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