rcade

Losing a bowl game team because of transfers is another sign of disaster in the FBS. Bowl games are starting to feel like the first game of next season, not the last game of this one. Florida State hasn't been the same since 24 players opted out of the Orange Bowl and the left-behinds got beat 66-3.

A player who enters the portal certain they are going to leave will opt out of bowl games. But some of them may enter the portal wanting to see the offers they get before they decide to transfer. Last year only 45% of players who entered the portal went to a new school. If the transfer portal could move after bowl games (unlikely for academic reasons), there might be a lot more players participating in bowls.

I don't think they're completely gone. We'll still get some football and basketball stars who love the place enough to commit to it for multiple seasons. They'll just be exceedingly rare and as fans we need to appreciate them. When Chandler Rogers and the other four-school portal chasers look back on their college careers in the future, will the diehard fans at their schools look back on them? Part of the appeal of playing is the money, no doubt, but another part is the glory of the game. If Rogers had stayed he could've left UNT as the fifth- or fourth-place QB in total passing yards in only two seasons.

Yes he did. We also approached Jimbo Fisher and interviewed Jay Norvell and Tyrone Nix. Harbaugh also was interviewed by Tulane and Stanford. Does anyone know if we chose Dodge over Harbaugh or if it didn't reach that stage (such as if Harbaugh wanted more money or was just doing the interview to sweeten the offer somewhere else)?

I don't know about that idea. It is the norm in college football for players to announce they are hitting the portal after the season but before the bowls. Twenty four FSU players left before the Orange Bowl last year and it wasn't because they were transferring to Georgia.

To have any optimism requires a 12-pack empty guy.

Given how much Eric Morris needs a win in this bowl game, I think that if Chandler wants to play he'd be crazy not to let him.

While that works out for a bunch of big P4/3/2 schools, Florida State went from undefeated ACC champ to superfund cleanup site in one season. Massive roster turnover means even big schools don't always reload.

The question I want answered is WHEN DOES THE PORTAL STOP?

I don't expect shutdowns but it does make the FCS more attractive, as does the effort to create two superconferences like the NFL and leave all other FBS schools on the outside looking in.

TheLinkU really gives me confidence with the cookie cutter pages for different schools. https://www.thelinku.com/donate/university-of-north-texas https://www.thelinku.com/donate/SouthAlabama https://www.thelinku.com/donate/college-of-charleston--south-carolina

TheLinkU is run by two University of Houston grads. Are fans really funding a UNT NIL through a tech startup that is setting up collective donation pages for a bunch of different schools -- and no doubt taking a generous cut for themselves?

Across most of the G5, I think alumni aren't going to fork over small donations in huge number until they get fired up about what the school is putting on the field. Even the fat cats in the P4/3/2 are getting donor fatigue. "My biggest pet peeve, and I've told them: 'Y'all can't call me every year asking for millions of dollars. That's not gonna happen. I love my school but I don't love them that much." -- Charles Barkley, Auburn alumni

If you mowed the lawn before getting paid you were taking the same risk as these athletes. I mowed lawns too. Ten-year-old me is ashamed I pay somebody else to do it now.

Funding NIL to a competitive level isn't about ordinary fans. It's about convincing rich alumni to fork over the bucks. I don't think we lack fans who care. We lack loaded fans who care.

I've been expecting to find out that he got his shoulder hurt and was playing with injury during the losing streak. He wasn't the same quarterback after mid-season.

If any bigger schools are reading this comment I'm willing to transfer my fandom for the right price. I'll sell you my name and image and throw in my likeness at no extra charge.

Are any departing UNT players getting offered that kind of money?

All UNT players who leave like this should be forced to do it during the middle of a game, like that one guy who quit the Mean Green to pursue his love of men's fashion. At least then we could boo them.

This kind of stuff is murdering the sport. What are the odds Chandler Morris will get an opportunity at a bigger school like the one he'd have in Denton next season? Our last Chandler to bolt threw for 117 yards this year at Cal, which was a mere 3,265 less than he did at UNT.

We are in a slightly better place than 2022, because we're the same barely average team except in a better conference. Is that enough to have confidence Eric Morris is the guy long-term? Hell no.

Point taken, Tim, but I wasn't talking about the early years. I was referring to Littrell's final years always having us around 6-6 and crapping the bed in big OOC games and bowls. He was the averagest coach in the FBS. 44-44 record.

This is the correct answer. I became a lifelong fan during the Southland Conference years in the Division I-AA wilderness. Something can be a good time even if it is small time. I'll never forget Corky Nelson throwing haymakers in the enormous brawl between SMU and UNT going into halftime in the late 1980s. UNT fans were nearly berserk for the rest of that game. Only the long walk and the cheap pitchers of beer at the Flying Tomato afterwards calmed us down.

If we win the bowl game it isn't Littrell all over again. He couldn't get to 7 or win a bowl game. This game is a chance for Eric Morris to prove he's an improvement over Littrell. That wouldn't be enough to show he's the right guy for the job, but it would at least be a step in the right direction.

We have a home and home with them in 2026 (away) and 2030 (home).