Following Indiana’s College Football Playoff National Championship win, fans across the country and students at Georgia College and State University are questioning whether recent changes to the transfer portal, name, image, and likeness (NIL), and the expanded playoff have improved fairness or harmed the sports legitimacy.
As the season finished with Indiana winning the College Football Playoff National Championship, fans across the country and students at GCSU started discussions about fairness, sustainability and legitimacy.
The transfer portal now lets players move more easily between programs. This gives athletes more control over their future careers. NIL has opened up new financial opportunities for athletes along with the CFP now including automatic bids for five conference champions, which aims to provide more access to the postseason.
However, these changes have not come without criticism. Some college football fans believe the sport’s rapid change has altered competitive balance across the sport and created contrasts between programs.
One student in particular states that the timeline should be changed for the team’s advantage.
“I do think that the college football transfer portal timeline should be altered because it is putting players and coaches that are actively competing in the playoffs at a disadvantage against teams that are not,” said Saxon Anderson, a sophomore finance major. “Teams that are not in the playoffs can spend all of their resources actively going out to find the coach and players they need, while the teams that are in the playoffs are forced to mix their time of focusing on the playoffs.”
The portal window overlaps with the playoff schedule, forcing some programs to balance postseason preparation with roster decisions.
Although the roster movements have been a concern, the expanded playoff format has also raised questions about competitive consistency. The 12-team playoff guarantees automatic bids to five conference champions, regardless of perceived strength compared to other programs left out of the field.
Colby Avery, a junior criminal justice major, believes the current structure may be limiting the quality of the postseason matchups.
“I do believe that the College Football Playoff format should be adjusted because in the last two seasons the fourth- and fifth-best champions that automatically got bids have yet to get a win,” Avery said. “I feel that it is taking away from teams that actually deserve a bid that would be much more likely to compete and give the fans what they want to see: higher quality teams and the biggest games and moments.”
Some fans argue that postseason expansion has cut the importance of the regular season outcomes and traditional rivalries between teams. Conference rearrangement has already altered matchups, and frequent player movement has made it harder for fans to build lasting connections with rosters.
With increased player movement and financial motivation, some fans believe college football is beginning to resemble a professional sports system rather than a campus-based tradition. While changes such as NIL and the transfer portal were designed to benefit players, they have also altered how fans experience the sport.
Walker Bell, a junior marketing major, said the growing emphasis on money has weakened the sense of community that once defined college football.
“I feel like the authenticity of college football is not as apparent as it used to be,” Bell said. “With the transfer portal and NIL deals becoming such a big factor, the sport feels much more like a business. Players are not building the same sense of community with their coaches and teammates when they know they can leave for more money at another school.”
As college football keeps changing, fans are still split about whether the sport’s path now can last. Though increased access, financial chances and player freedom show progress, many feel changes will be needed to keep the competitive spirit, tradition and emotional bond that have defined college football.
