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NCAA Oversight Committee votes to support college football transfer portal overhaul

The NCAA took a significant step toward reshaping college football’s transfer calendar.
Patrick Previty|
NCAA logo flag
NCAA logo flag | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The NCAA took a significant step toward reshaping college football’s transfer calendar Thursday, as the Division I Football Oversight Committee voted to support moving to a single, 10-day transfer portal window in January. The recommendation now advances to the Division I Council, which would need to approve the change before it can take effect.

Under current rules adopted last fall, FBS players have 30 total days to enter the portal across two periods: a 20-day window beginning the Monday after conference championship weekend in December and a 10-day window in April (Dec. 9–28 and April 16–25 for the 2024-25 cycle). A separate 30-day window opens for athletes when their head coach departs.

The single-window plan endorsed by the oversight committee mirrors what FBS coaches pushed in January at the American Football Coaches Association convention: one condensed portal opening in early January — specifically Jan. 2–12 — replacing the December and April periods. Coaches argued the change would reduce roster chaos during bowl season and the College Football Playoff while still allowing mid-year enrollees to join new teams in time for spring practice. That coaches’ recommendation moved to the NCAA governance pipeline earlier this year.

If the Council signs off, the move would further streamline a transfer system that has undergone near-constant revision. In October 2024, the NCAA shrank football’s portal access from 45 to 30 days and clarified sport-wide rules, including the 30-day coach-departure exception. The next adjustment would compress that access even further into a single January window, aligning transfer activity more closely with the academic calendar and after postseason play for most programs.

A January-only window could help stabilize depth charts in December — a month that now overlaps championship games, bowl prep, high-school signing activity and portal entries — and mitigate opt-outs that have affected postseason rosters. Coaches who backed the shift in January usually cite the need to preserve bowl season and give staffs and players a cleaner runway into spring ball.

The Council must decide precise dates for the January window and how existing exceptions interact with a one-window model — such as the 30-day period that opens when a head coach leaves, and other sport-wide provisions. Procedurally, the Football Oversight Committee’s role is to make recommendations; the Council is the body that adopts transfer-window legislation for Division I.

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Patrick Previty
PATRICK PREVITY

In addition to writing for On SI, Patrick is also a site expert for Canes Warning and has previously written for outlets such as Betsided, Orlando Magic Daily and Southbound and Down. He serves as a sideline reporter for ESPN+, covering UCF athletics and the Big 12 Conference. In 2024, he hosted a live, on-site UCF football pregame show that aired on ESPN+. Patrick has interviewed numerous figures in the college sports world, ranging from players to UCF’s athletic director. Recently, he traveled to Mobile, Ala., to cover the 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl, where he spoke with multiple NFL Draft prospects. Patrick also hosts coverage of the Orlando Magic for Digest Media on YouTube and has become one of the leading voices on the team in the region. Patrick also helps run the social media department for The Voice of College Football Network, focusing on breaking news and digital storytelling. Patrick previously spent time at CNN in the sports department, where he assisted with CNN’s World Sport show and Bleacher Report updates for morning programming. Hailing from the Tampa Bay Area, Patrick is a lifelong fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Rays, Tampa Bay Lightning, Orlando Magic and UCF Knights.

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