NCAA on verge of approving a single January transfer window for college football

Advertisement

Advertise with us

The NCAA is on the verge of approving a single transfer window in college football that would allow players on teams competing in the postseason to remain eligible for playoff and bowl games before entering the portal.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Monthly Digital Subscription

$1 per week for 24 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

Monthly Digital Subscription

$4.99/week*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*Billed as $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

No thanks

*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.

The NCAA is on the verge of approving a single transfer window in college football that would allow players on teams competing in the postseason to remain eligible for playoff and bowl games before entering the portal.

The window of Jan. 2-16 was approved by the Division I bowl subdivision oversight committee on Monday and needs only a final signoff from the D-I administrative panel next month to take effect.

Bowl subdivision coaches voted unanimously to support the January portal proposal during their American Football Coaches Association convention earlier this year. The change would allow them to focus more on coaching during bowl season, and it would prevent most teams from losing active players as they prepare for important games. Last winter, Penn State backup quarterback Beau Pribula entered the portal and missed his team’s run in the College Football Playoff.

Penn State players run on to the field before an NCAA college football game against Oregon, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Jared Freed)
Penn State players run on to the field before an NCAA college football game against Oregon, Saturday, Sept. 27, 2025, in State College, Pa. (AP Photo/Jared Freed)

“The current NCAA post-season model creates a challenge for student-athletes,” Pribula, now at Missouri, wrote on social media at the time. “The overlapping CFB playoff & transfer portal timeline has forced me into an impossible decision.”

Players on CFP teams will have a five-day window to enter the portal following their team’s final game. All other players will have from Jan. 2 to Jan. 16 to enter, instead of the current Dec. 9-28 window.

Already gone is the spring portal period, which was April 16-25 this past offseason. That saw many players and coaches juggling transfers and spring practice. Nico Iamaleava, a quarterback who led Tennessee to the playoff last season, left the Volunteers for UCLA in the spring, leaving Tennessee scrambling.

The oversight committee had initially recommended a 10-day notification-of-transfer window from Jan. 2-11 but expanded it after feedback from athletes. Other than the CFP exception, the only other way for football players to transfer outside the new window is if a coach is fired; in those cases, players may enter the portal within 30 days. The committee is considering changes to that exception as well.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Report Error Submit a Tip

Uncategorized

LOAD MORE