Are we finally seeing the effects of the 25 Scholly Limit??

[RougeDawg]

After having the last few days free to spend in a deer stand and catch up on the board, this popped into my head tonight.

With all of the crazy games and big boys losing more than normal this year, is the 25 scholarship limit finally bringing about more parity in college football? Just look at our season. Win at A&M and Auburn in a rare and historic comeback fashion. A&M beats Bama but loses to LSU and Ark. Auburn and Ark take Bama to the brink. Auburn had them if Bigsby slides in bounds. LSU, USC, Florida and Auburn at 6-6. This is the craziest and most unpredictable SEC season since Little Nicky took over and points to more parity and more of an open league going forward.

No longer are the days of the Blue Bloods over-signing and processing guys to keep them away from the other programs. Even in the Big-10 and other conferences, you see more balanced competition. I believe we are finally seeing the impacts of the scholly limit and hopefully it continues.

[IMissJack]

I think the transfer portal is going to do as much as the 25 limit. A mid tier SEC team that is a 8-9 win team can get 2-3 immediate impact players to have that magical year.

[Todd4State]

I agree about the portal. Alabama used to be able to horde guys like Jimmy Johns and they would play very little. Now we can get a guy like Scott Lashley back and that's big for us. Yes, I know Lashley struggled with penalties but it would have been worse without him. We can also fill gaps and not have to rely solely on JUCO. See Makai Polk, Jalen Green, Randy Charlton and etc.

[RougeDawg]

I think the transfer portal is going to do as much as the 25 limit. A mid tier SEC team that is a 8-9 win team can get 2-3 immediate impact players to have that magical year.

Possibly a combo of both. The Blue Bloods can no longer hoard on signing day and now those who are, have the ability to leave. All good things for more parity in the collegiate ranks.

[Leeshouldveflanked]

The NIL is going to be the blue bloods new tool and Ole Misses.

[bulldawg28]

The 25 rule is not it imo. However, I think the portal is helping quickly. Georgia is a prime example so is our team and Ole miss. Key transfers are game changers.

[Cooterpoot]

I think the blue bloods losing a ton to the pros is catching up to them. It'll all fall back to them in another year or two. The 25 rule matters not. We have Covid guys staying extra years and additional scholarships due to Covid. If anything, the portal, helps you by opening up spots. Lord knows other than Polk and maybe Green, we've not hit the jackpot, especially AL portal guys. Hopefully we grab a good couple this time.

[MetEdDawg]

The portal is what's really doing it.

We were able to fill massive holes on our roster through the portal. Randy Charlton, Makai Polk, Jamie Calvin, and Jalen Green all played an integral part in what we did. Could you imagine what our offense would have looked like without the work Polk did if there were no transfer portal?

Then look at Alabama and they got guys like To'o To'o and Jameson Williams. They got help in the portal too. But when you think about it, how much better can Alabama and other blue bloods get than they already are? The portal is helping teams like us be more competitive because we can fill gaps that we have in recruiting. The blue bloods don't have massive gaps in recruiting which is why they stomp us routinely.

The portal in the long term I think is going to help us, if we use it properly, level the field against a lot of teams we play in conference.

[Offshore Dawg]

Most of you talk about Bama getting 5***, but it is not just that, they are still getting the No 1 ranked player at that position

[dawgday166]

I think it's portal more than anything. I'd still like to see scholly limits reduced to 20/yr and 70 max. I believe that would produce even greater parity.

[bulldawg28]

Between 1) the portal 2) juco 3) high schools no P5 team with a solid plan should have massive holes any longer. I think schools will start recruiting the portal harder than high school drama kings.

[Todd4State]

Most of you talk about Bama getting 5***, but it is not just that, they are still getting the No 1 ranked player at that position

I'll say this about Alabama- we should have played them better than we did.

[Todd4State]

Between 1) the portal 2) juco 3) high schools no P5 team with a solid plan should have massive holes any longer. I think schools will start recruiting the portal harder than high school drama kings.

I don't know. I think schools are still going to need that core group to build around with players that have been in the program 3-5 years. It's hard to build a team of mercenaries unless you are Jackson State.

[Tbonewannabe]

Bama only gained from the transfer portal. They lost no one worth anything and gained the WR from Ohio St (who was their #1 guy) and the LB from Tennessee. I don't think you can point to one thing and say see this is now parity. I think it was just a weird year. You still have roughly the same guys at the top. Replace Ohio St with Michigan and Oklahoma with Oklahoma St. Bama being down but still winning all but one.

[bulldawg28]

I don't know. I think schools are still going to need that core group to build around with players that have been in the program 3-5 years. It's hard to build a team of mercenaries unless you are Jackson State.

You'll need the core indeed. However, coaches can stay relevant with the portal.

[Hot Rock]

I don't know. I think schools are still going to need that core group to build around with players that have been in the program 3-5 years. It's hard to build a team of mercenaries unless you are Jackson State.

I agree with Todd. You have to still have recruit your core team from HS but I also agree that you should be able to limit your weaknesses with transfer guys a year. I see JuCo's and transfers in the same way. The transfer portal has just given another avenue.

If you have to completely reload every year with portal guys it will blow up in your face. I do see taking less marginal high school guys that you pretty much know have little chance to ever help on Saturdays. If you sign 18-22 HS guys and the rest Portal & JuCo's then that is better than signing 25 HS guys and 10 not being SEC caliber players.

[99jc]

I agree with Todd. You have to still have recruit your core team from HS but I also agree that you should be able to limit your weaknesses with transfer guys a year. I see JuCo's and transfers in the same way. The transfer portal has just given another avenue.

If you have to completely reload every year with portal guys it will blow up in your face. I do see taking less marginal high school guys that you pretty much know have little chance to ever help on Saturdays. If you sign 18-22 HS guys and the rest Portal & JuCo's then that is better than signing 25 HS guys and 10 not being SEC caliber players.

The portal is a game changer especially at QB position.

[Johnson85]

Bama only gained from the transfer portal. They lost no one worth anything and gained the WR from Ohio St (who was their #1 guy) and the LB from Tennessee. I don't think you can point to one thing and say see this is now parity. I think it was just a weird year. You still have roughly the same guys at the top. Replace Ohio St with Michigan and Oklahoma with Oklahoma St. Bama being down but still winning all but one.

I think you are right that this is a weird year, but I do think the portal is making a difference. Bama is plugging "holes" where they had a 4* just not quite live up to potential. Other schools are plugging holes where they don't have a viable option.

As bad as Lashley was at times, he never was in danger of losing his starting position or any playing time. What does that tell you about who we had behind them? If we don't have Lashley, every game probably looks like Ole Miss, where our RT getting abused makes it hard for the offense to run.

Charlton certainly wasn't dominant, but who do we play if we don't have him? I suspect both of those players made a bigger difference for us than Bama's transfers made for them. Most of the time, the blue bloods will be getting players from other blue bloods that just happen to be backing up an even better player. Those players will certainly help, but they usually won't be game changers because blue bloods should pretty much never have a glaring hole with the exception of QB, where you can just miss on a guy or two and be screwed.

[Tbonewannabe]

I agree with Todd. You have to still have recruit your core team from HS but I also agree that you should be able to limit your weaknesses with transfer guys a year. I see JuCo's and transfers in the same way. The transfer portal has just given another avenue.

If you have to completely reload every year with portal guys it will blow up in your face. I do see taking less marginal high school guys that you pretty much know have little chance to ever help on Saturdays. If you sign 18-22 HS guys and the rest Portal & JuCo's then that is better than signing 25 HS guys and 10 not being SEC caliber players.

This is where Jackie did well in the late 90s before the Juco rules were put in place to basically stop us from being good. Now very few quality guys are going to Juco so getting SEC quality guys that are just sitting on Bama's bench might help. I am all for the transfer portal until it bites us in the ass. Someone mentioned that Ole Miss is trying to get to Tulu through back channels. If he leaves then I am fine with the rule that he loses a year of eligibility.

[Liverpooldawg]

I think the transfer portal is going to do as much as the 25 limit. A mid tier SEC team that is a 8-9 win team can get 2-3 immediate impact players to have that magical year.

It's this.

[Johnson85]

This is where Jackie did well in the late 90s before the Juco rules were put in place to basically stop us from being good. Now very few quality guys are going to Juco so getting SEC quality guys that are just sitting on Bama's bench might help. I am all for the transfer portal until it bites us in the ass. Someone mentioned that Ole Miss is trying to get to Tulu through back channels. If he leaves then I am fine with the rule that he loses a year of eligibility.


That would suck, but I would get it if he left. Not sure why he can't get more playing time.

[BrunswickDawg]

That would suck, but I would get it if he left. Not sure why he can't get more playing time.

Tulu has been injured some. I know he and Heath have been listed at the X all season and Ford is listed at the Y - but when you see a walk on playing WR, contributing at the same level statistically, and making impacts that the guy listed in the 2 deep isn't - then it's probably indicative that the guy in the 2 deep isn't getting it.

[thf24]

Then look at Alabama and they got guys like To'o To'o and Jameson Williams. They got help in the portal too. But when you think about it, how much better can Alabama and other blue bloods get than they already are? The portal is helping teams like us be more competitive because we can fill gaps that we have in recruiting. The blue bloods don't have massive gaps in recruiting which is why they stomp us routinely.

This is a great point. The portal becomes a curve of diminishing returns at their level. When the little guys can fill their holes and start closing the gap, the fact that you can only put 11 men on the field at a time becomes more and more significant.

[Schultzy]

This is a great point. The portal becomes a curve of diminishing returns at their level. When the little guys can fill their holes and start closing the gap, the fact that you can only put 11 men on the field at a time becomes more and more significant.
Right.
When the portal first came out in the news there was a thread on here bemoaning how it would make it more difficult for us and the blue bloods richer. I posted that it would help us and other middle tier programs bc of guys getting lost in the shuffle at the bigs an looking for more playing time.

[HoopsDawg]

It's very hard to evaluate offensive linemen. Bama has a poor O-line and they hired a poor OC. So they only managed to go 11-1 this year.