LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – College football has already seen many changes in a relatively short time.
From the launch of the College Football Playoff in 2014, to the transfer portal in 2018 and athletes starting to make money off their name, image and likeness in 2022.
Those changes, however, have created other issues.
“It’s broken because we’re stuck in what’s tradition versus like being proactive,” Texas Tech head football coach Joey McGuire said.
The 2025-2026 season will conclude January 19, but the transfer portal opened on New Year’s Day. McGuire has been outspoken about what needs to change moving forward and suggests starting the season earlier would be beneficial.
“If you look at the days, we should have a national champion on January 1 and it would be really easy to do,” McGuire said. “With 12 teams, 16 teams and the portal opening on the 2nd.”
In order to pull this off, it likely means shuffling bowl games. McGuire believes moving those games to week one would create a great atmosphere for the sport. That’s a sentiment shared by 2011 Heisman winner Robert Griffin lll.
“What it does is it turns it almost into what college basketball is where you have these tournaments in the beginning of the season that become the bowl games,” Griffin said. “Now you can have that big time matchup of Texas vs. Ohio State and it’s the Sugar Bowl and it’s the first game of the year.”
Perhaps the biggest talking point is changing the College Football Playoff. McGuire says adding at least four more teams would get rid of some fan frustration across the country.
Much has also been made about the transfer portal. With it opening in the middle of postseason action, it’s forcing universities to check in on recruits while important games are taking place.
“I’m probably sending them texts every day of like, I see something on social media that this guy is announcing,” McGuire said, “so we’re watching film on him if we haven’t already watched him.”
Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban has proposed moving the portal window to the middle of the offseason in May, but as Oregon head coach Dan Lanning expressed, finding potential players doesn’t necessarily set you up for success.
“College football is about adapting,” Lanning said. “There’s a lot of teams that take people out of the portal, right? There’s not a lot of teams that necessarily have that success.”
As this season draws to a close, the upcoming off season could mark a major turning point in college football, and many within it are hoping these potential changes can create a big step in the right direction.
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