Turns out, there are a lot of legendary No. 2s.
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) February 22, 2022
I can't wait for 7/7/77.
Word of the Day: Postulate.
NOT MOVING ON UP. When the one-time transfer exception was first discussed, I remember folks being extremely concerned that it would result in the elite programs simply taking all the good players from lesser programs.
That is happening to a point (I see you, Alabama), but it's nowhere near the sky-is-falling level that was predicted. In fact, the data shows pretty much the opposite is happening: the vast majority of players who transfer end up moving down in competition level.
One of the most surprising findings of this work is that most transfers involved players moving down in competition level. While high-prestige transfers between P5 programs (e.g., Justin Fields or Caleb Williams) garner most of the media attention, they are generally the exception rather than the rule. Most P5 players who transfer are heading down in competition level, to G5 or non-FBS programs. Similarly, more G5 transfers involve players heading down to the non-FBS level than moving up to the P5 level. The P5 level is a net exporter of players (-915) via the portal. The G5 level appears to be roughly neutral (-20), with similar amounts of players entering and leaving. Non-FBS programs appear to be net importers (+935), with significantly more players added than lost via the portal (based on 247 data). Overall the transfer portal largely seems to function to help players who are struggling to find success at their current competition level, move either up or down to a more-suitable level of competition.
And here's what that looks like on a handy dandy chart:
It makes sense and the numbers reflect what we're seeing at even an elite program at Ohio State, but I don't think I expected it to be so stark.
These results come from an extremely thorough deep dive of the transfer portal data over the past five years. There were a bunch of other fun transfer portal findings in the data, too. Here are some of the highlights:
- Skill position players transfer at a higher rate than their trench position peers.
- Higher-rated recruiting classes have higher transfer rates.
- Higher-ranked recruits transfer at higher rates than their lower-ranked peers.
- Players who go to school beyond 300 miles from their hometown appear to transfer at a much higher rate than their close-to-home peers.
A lot of that seems obvious and exactly what we would expect, but it's cool that someone took the time and pieced the data together to prove it.
WOODY HAYES WOULD NEVER. Joint preseason practices have been a thing at the NFL level for quite a while, but it looks like they might be coming to college football as early as this year.
A major change could come to the training camp calendar, as soon as this August.
The MAC will ask the NCAA to consider a proposal that would allow FBS teams to hold NFL-style joint practices, beginning with the 2022 season. The practice would occur within the existing training camp schedule, established last year: i.e., one of the 18 allowable practices, and no more than 75 minutes of full contact.
"Student-athletes in many sports other than football have an opportunity to test themselves and measure their preparation by facing an opponent in scrimmages of exhibitions," the proposal reads. "A joint practice with another institution during the preseason would allow football student-athletes an opportunity to prepare for the upcoming season."
This makes all the sense in the world, but part of me just doesn't believe this is going to catch on at the Power Five level, especially among the elite teams.
I mean, there might not be a more paranoid profession in the world than college football head coaches, and now you're asking them if they'd like to share their preseason practices with another program when they barely let the media take photos of them stretching?
We're not that far removed from Woody Hayes literally moving practice multiple miles away because he was convinced spies were watching his team from Lincoln and Morrill towers.
NICE. I have found a way to simplify your Ohio State basketball watching experience: simply root for the Buckeyes to reach the sex number first. If that happens, they win more than 99 percent of the time.
I knew it was a magic number, but I had no idea it had anything to do with Buckeye basketball!
OOPS! This week, Texas learned that not all punters are the same.
Longtime Longhorn punter Ryan Bujcevski intended to enter the NCAA transfer portal this week as a graduate transfer. Except, Texas accidentally entered the wrong punter into the portal.
It appears as if Isaac Pearson's name was entered into the NCAA Transfer Portal by mistake.
— Inside Texas (@InsideTexas) February 21, 2022
Pearson's name has been withdrawn, and Ryan Bujcevski's name is now in the portal as a grad transfer, @InsideTexas has learned #HookEm pic.twitter.com/9vkNF2d3IK
That would have had to be a wild ride for Pearson when he started to get text messages from other programs. Dude was probably wondering if there was some memo he missed.
Ultimately, it's not a huge deal, especially given the position. But this would have been much more hilarious if a school put the wrong quarterback into the portal or something.
SONG OF THE DAY. "this is me trying" by Taylor Swift.
NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. How a Nike exec is working to make amends with the family of a fellow teen he killed in 1965... The father of new Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell had a key role in getting Mafia boss John Gotti behind bars... A BYU student created a fireball that displaced 22 people while trying to make homemade rocket fuel... The weather on this exoplanet includes metal clouds and rain made of precious gems... The muscly guy at the gym may be at risk for an eating disorder...
