quote:
I get it, but how does one account for transfers when the academic calendar dictates that players transfer prior to bowl games (I'm assuming this is the reason for the current transfer window)?

The current academic calendar is a huge problem. But it's not just the portal window. It's the fact that transfers have to be enrolled in their new schools, usually by the end of the 1st week in January, to be able to participate in spring practice. And if you're going to a new school to hopefully start, not going through spring would put you at a pretty big disadvantage. It's why the backup at Texas had to make the tough decision to leave the team in the middle of a national championship run. He didn't want to have to do that. And I bet Sark and his teammates would still love for him to be there even if they knew he'd be at another school next year. But he has to be enrolled at his new school in the next 10 days.

And it's why Heard isn't playing in LSU's bowl game. I don't like the way he's handled it, but that game being on NYD sucks for guys thinking about transferring. The portal closes the next day, and he'd have to come home from Tampa, talk to Kelly, Davis, and his family, and put his name in within 24 hours. And if he decided to leave, find a new school, get enrolled and move within the next week. And it wouldn't allow him to take very many visits--if any at all--before making his decision of where to transfer. Again, don't like how he's handled this, especially the timing. You'd think these conversations could have been had in the past month (but maybe Kelly and Davis weren't as available, focusing on Early Signing Day, which is another piece of the calendar clusterfrick). But I think the calendar helps create these bad situations. If we had played our bowl on December 20th, I think Heard plays no question. But as it is, there are just too many things squeezed too closely together. And it sucks for everybody involved.