While 20 teams prepare for their conference championship games, the big news in college football this week is a number of players jumping into the transfer portal. The NCAA’s transfer portal, which started in October 2018, was created to help manage and facilitate a student-athlete’s desire to transfer from one school to another. Like most things, the transfer portal started small and is now a huge operation.
The transfer portal is typically only used for college football and basketball. The NCAA has established guidelines for its use. The transfer portal opens the day after championship selections are made in the respective sport. For fall sports, the portal is open for 45 days. That means for college football players looking for a new school, the transfer portal will open on Dec. 4. That is one day after the College Football Playoff is announced.
History of the Transfer Portal
Back in 2010, Russell Wilson graduated from NC State. In 2011, Wilson decided to transfer to Wisconsin. Back then, a student-athlete who had graduated could transfer to another school and play immediately. Wilson was the first big “graduate transfer.” This practice became more common over the next several years.
As pressure mounted on the NCAA to change its transfer rules, its transfer portal was created in 2018. The transfer portal itself is simply a database. The database can be accessed by student-athletes who enter it and by coaches who go to it looking for players. CFB coaches love the transfer portal because they can find guys with FBS or FCS experience that they can plug into their lineups right away. Usage of the transfer portal has greatly impacted high school football recruiting.
This Year’s Transfer Portal
Like the CFB coaching carousel, the transfer portal really heats up at this time of year. Even though it doesn’t open until next Monday, student-athletes are already announcing their intentions. Minnesota starting QB Athan Kaliakmanis announced via Twitter/X of his intention to leave the program.
Thank you Minnesota ❤️ pic.twitter.com/MK2CsxGYYE
— Athan Kaliakmanis (@aajk_23) November 28, 2023
He’s not the only quarterback either. Because of the position’s importance, quarterback’s usually generate the most interest in the transfer portal. Kansas State’s Will Howard, Mississippi State’s Will Rogers, and Miami’s Tyler Van Dyke will all be in the transfer portal on Monday. All three have tons of experience and are all NFL prospects.
The transfer portal is not limited to quarterbacks. Purdue WR Deion Burks will transfer. Burks led the Boilermakers in receiving with 47 catches for 629 yards and seven touchdowns. USC WR Raleek Brown will do the same. Howard’s teammate at Kansas State, RB Treshaun Ward will enter the transfer portal for a second time. All of this year’s transfers will have an impact on the 2024 college football season. Check Sports Hub for updates to the transfer portal.
How to Win $700 Sports Hub Style
If you’re a Sports Hub member, winning $700 in a day is this easy. You log into the members’ area and find expert handicappers William Taylor and Seth Cohen. Then, you make the same seven picks that they made. Go 7-0 and collect your $700. Do not pass Go and do not collect $200. Just simply collect seven C-notes!
Now, if you’re not a Sports Hub member, the first thing for you to do is join. It’s easy and it’s free. You get access to all of our expert handicappers and their picks as well as our computer picks, which have put together an impressive resume over the past four-plus years. Sports Hub’s computer picks win at a 59 percent clip.
Anyway, let’s check out how our cappers did yesterday.
- Slick Willie: William Taylor is a name that you’ve seen here before. Yesterday, he went 4-0 on three basketball spread picks and one NHL moneyline prediction. William won $400 to take the top spot yesterday.
- 3-day stretch: If you had been following Seth Cohen, your last three days would have been outstanding. Yesterday, Seth hit all three of his picks and won $300. Over the last three days, Seth is 8-1 and has earned $690. Not too shabby!
- Scott Wetzel: Premium Picks from Scott also went 3-0 yesterday for $300 in winnings. Scott is running hot recently with a 44-26 record (62.86%) over the last 30 days. He is up $1535 over that span and is No. 2 on our 30-day leaderboard.
- No. 4: Coming in at No. 4 yesterday was a relative newbie, Mike Hawk (no relation to Mike Hunt), who went 4-1 and earned $245.
- Join Sports Hub: Ross Walker, Patrick Doyle, and Robert Jones are all reasons why you should have a SportsHub account. All three Sports Hub experts went 2-0 yesterday. Ross hit a soccer pick at +104 and ended up earning $204. The other two took home $200.
NBA IST, New CFP Among Trending News
It’s an alphabet soup of trending sports news. The NBA’s in-season tournament ended group play last night and now the knockout stage is ready to go. The top four teams in the East and West will compete in the semifinals beginning next Monday.
The College Football Playoff committee met last night and released its new rankings. There was a bit of a shakeup after Michigan’s win over Ohio State last week. It was the third straight win for the Wolverines over the Buckeyes, who will now need one of the top-4 to lose in their conference title game to have a shot at the CFP.
Here’s what’s trending now.
- Knockout stage set: Last night marked the end of the NBA’s in-season tournament group stage. The semifinals are now set in each conference. Next Monday, Boston is at Indiana and New Orleans plays in Sacramento. On Tuesday, the Knicks will be in Milwaukee to face the Bucks and the Suns will play the West’s top seed, the LA Lakers.
- New CFP poll: The latest CFP rankings show Georgia at No. 1 followed by Michigan, Washington and Florida State. The Seminoles moved back into the top-4 with Ohio State’s loss. Oregon is No. 5 and the Buckeyes fell to No. 6.
- What about Texas & Alabama?: College football rankings always get somebody fired up. In this case, it’s two somebodies – Texas and Alabama. Take the following as an example. Wins over top-35 programs: Texas and Alabama have five each. Oregon and Ohio State have three. Bias anyone?
- Bowl projections: It’s that time of year again. With the conference title games coming this weekend, the rest of the nation’s bowl eligible teams are thinking about where they could be headed for the holiday season. Like the transfer portal and the coaching carousel, bowl projections will be in the news until the bowl schedule is announced on Sunday.
- Petrino is back: It won’t affect this college football season, but Bobby Petrino is set to become Arkansas’ new offensive coordinator. The Razorbacks went 4-8 this season, so there’s no bowl game for the Hogs. Petrino was Arkansas’ head coach from 2008 to 2011. He got involved in a big SNAFU that ended with him getting fired. He went 21-5 over his last two seasons at Arkansas and is considered one of the game’s best OC’s and play-callers.
What’s on the Schedule Today
There isn’t any football until tomorrow night. Until then, we’ll have to feast on the NBA, NHL, and whatever else is available. Maybe there will come a time when we can place bets on CFB players entering the transfer portal. Futures bets on where they end up? Maybe. We’ll see.
For now, here’s what you can dig into today.
- Pro basketball: The NBA has seven games on tap one night after finishing the in-season tournament group stage. NBATV has the Clippers at Sacramento. The Kings beat Golden State 124-123 last night to earn the No. 2 seed in the West. Boston (14-4) and Minnesota (13-4) have the best records in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference, respectively. Both teams are off tonight.
- College basketball: It’s another full slate of mostly non-conference NCAAB games on tap today. After last night’s Kentucky-Miami matchup of ranked opponents (Kentucky won 95-73, by the way), we get another one tonight. No. 10 Tennessee plays at No. 17 North Carolina as the ACC-SEC challenge continues. There are over two dozen CBB picks in our database already. Check them out.
GAMEDAY in Chapel Hill.
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) November 29, 2023
🆚 Tennessee
⏰ 7:15 PM ET
📍 Dean E. Smith Center
📺 ESPN
⚪️ WEAR WHITE pic.twitter.com/7q5w5nJVbB
- Ice hockey: It’s a slow night in the NHL with just three games on the schedule. The Original Six matchup of Detroit and the New York Rangers is a national broadcast on TNT tonight.
- Soccer: There is a bunch of soccer today around the world. The UEFA Champions League has eight matches on tap. La Liga and Ligue 1 have one each. Tons of South American soccer is on the schedule. Check out the members’ area for today’s soccer picks.
- Tennis: The first round of the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by NEOM continues today. On the women’s tour, second round play in the Argentina and Creand-Andorra Opens starts today.
There are – and will be – hundreds of picks for today’s sporting events in our database. Sports Hub members can access all of these picks at any time during the day. Our top-10 cappers over the last 30 days all have impressive winning percentages of 55 percent or higher and all ten are up well over $1000 for the month. Just sayin’.
Bet with your head and if you’re unsure, remember, Sports Hub is always here to help. We’ve got your content, betting tips, and the best picks in the world right here at the click of a mouse. Come back tomorrow and we’ll do this again!