The Portal, 2025 Style

[ShipAlum]

Would like to see Lek come to Ship. I realize he has not received good reviews on this platform.

[RamPride]

Lek Powell in Portal, read those leaves..

[Fightingscot82]

Right, yea I was viewing that as a long term positive overall. Is it 105 scholarship players or are they still 85 with walkons to that point?

Kind of. Roster limit goes down from 128 to 105 and the scholarship cap goes up to 105.

This will help FCS and D2 in recruiting because this effectively ends walking on. Basically its scholarship roster spot or NARP. Can't tell you how many times I've seen kids turn down what is most likely free college at a PSAC school only to chase D1 dreams by walking on at a MAC school, which also means out of state tuition because they're all publics.

[Ram040506]

Correct. It also means they will take less high school players. So, overall, the D2 quality should go up.

Right, yea I was viewing that as a long term positive overall. Is it 105 scholarship players or are they still 85 with walkons to that point?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Cary Moyer mentioned this little wrench in the dreams of portalites: FBS rosters drop to 105 next year. Less chances to move up the ladder...

Correct. It also means they will take less high school players. So, overall, the D2 quality should go up.

[WarriorVoice]

Cary Moyer mentioned this little wrench in the dreams of portalites: FBS rosters drop to 105 next year. Less chances to move up the ladder...

[Ship69]

I didn't mean to hijack your number. Just don't think the world needs another level of small school football. D2, mid D2 and D3 or D4... I still think too many play football anyway.

I don't think any more would be playing. It would just be allocated differently. I think football will struggle long-term anyway. It's getting hard for small high schools to field an adequate roster, especially with so many trying to field soccer teams as well. The large numbers required for football, combined with Title IX, actually mean fewer opportunities for men who play sports other than football. Most colleges now sponsor more women's sports teams than men. We have women's volleyball, lacrosse, and tennis at Ship without any men's teams. Tennis and golf are probably two of the cheapest sports to sponsor (players usually already have their own equipment) and can actually be played for almost a lifetime, the number of teams in college has shrunk. Given the low number of high-level men's gymnastics programs in the U.S., I though the men's third-place finish at the Olympics was probably as miraculous or moreso than the women winning gold.

[Fightingscot82]

Wilson Gonzalez, Millersville
Kyle Keckler, Lock Haven
Asa Mayo, Shepherd
Amir Muhammad, Millersville
Jahmari Nelson, Shepherd
LJ Samuels, Clarion
Richard Scott, Lock Haven
Oscar Uduma, Seton Hill

Half of the Ivy League is in the portal.

[Fightingscot82]

Basing D1/2/3 alignment solely on football is not really possible unless the NCAA divorces football alignments from the rest of the sports. Which, to be clear, is something the NCAA desperately needs to do. But there are no signs that they are actually willing to do it.

If the NCAA sanctions it, they have to pay for it. As we can all imagine, staging and funding football playoffs is a huge undertaking. The NCAA wants to reminisce about the golden days of amateur sports and debate NIL, not run playoffs for us serf schools in D2 and D3.

[EastStroud13]

Yea, I can't get there. I think there at least should be a minimum of say 18 equivalencies to be D2. D2 should have 18-36 max equivalencies and if you can't fund at least the 18, you should move to D3. We don't need another division of small school football.

Basing D1/2/3 alignment solely on football is not really possible unless the NCAA divorces football alignments from the rest of the sports. Which, to be clear, is something the NCAA desperately needs to do. But there are no signs that they are actually willing to do it.

[Fightingscot82]

Say that happens. Would those 5 schools perhaps see a boost at all in being able to maybe field more equivalencies, with less schools out there to compete or fundraise against? Is that maybe a stupid way of projecting that as a possibility?

Not to equivalencies - but you might see those schools be able to recruit better players with less money. Clarion and Edinboro and Gannon make Cal, IUP, and Slippery Rock spend more than they have to and work harder to get the best players. There aren't any dollars transferring though.

[Ram040506]

Well, my suggestion was 15-20. It's apparent that nobody in our conference can do the 36, and most are not even close. Given demographics and costs these days, more than 20 scholies is a lot for a small school to put out.

I didn't mean to hijack your number. Just don't think the world needs another level of small school football. D2, mid D2 and D3 or D4... I still think too many play football anyway.

[Ram040506]

18 scholarships would make this a 5 school conference.

Say that happens. Would those 5 schools perhaps see a boost at all in being able to maybe field more equivalencies, with less schools out there to compete or fundraise against? Is that maybe a stupid way of projecting that as a possibility?

[Fightingscot82]

18 scholarships would make this a 5 school conference.

[Ship69]

Yea, I can't get there. I think there at least should be a minimum of say 18 equivalencies to be D2. D2 should have 18-36 max equivalencies and if you can't fund at least the 18, you should move to D3. We don't need another division of small school football.

Well, my suggestion was 15-20. It's apparent that nobody in our conference can do the 36, and most are not even close. Given demographics and costs these days, more than 20 scholies is a lot for a small school to put out.