College Football Has an Unexpected Trend This Season Thanks to New NIL Landscape

College Sports have changed drastically recently due to the addition of NIL and the transfer portal.

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It’s clear that college athletics is in a new era after the addition of significant changes such as NIL and the transfer portal. This hasn’t been more apparent than with college football this season.

One thing the league has seen is parity. With the new and expanded 12-team playoff format debuting this postseason, many teams have changed strategies to become more competitive for their chance at a National Championship.

However, unlike past seasons, new programs are emerging on the scene as top teams in the country that can make an impact due to NIL. Programs across the country are able to add top transfers to instantly make their teams contenders.

Recently, college sports reporter Amanda Christovich from Front Office Sports discussed how a program can change overnight if the community steps up to the plate.

“If donors put up the money, they can help their schools elevate to the next level almost immediately by recruiting players with unlimited opportunities to switch teams.”

This has certainly come true with a program like the SMU Mustangs. After making a move this season to the ACC, a school transitioning to a power-4 conference would usually have a challenging period, building its recruiting and enticing top players to commit. However, that was not the case. The Dallas-based university got help from its lucrative collectives to not only alleviate the growing pains of realignment but also become an instant contender for the ACC title in 2024. 

This new strategy is anything but a secret. In fact, most people tend to agree that not only is the parity changing the sport for those who are able to compete for the top prize, but it's also making the sport more fun overall for fans watching every week. ESPN’s Pat McAfee sounded off this past Saturday on College Gameday

 “I think the big story of this game, and this season with the top-5 matchups, is not only the expansion of conference realignment and everything like that, but this transfer portal and NIL has really delivered for us as college football fans.”

The portal has changed the way teams approach the offseason and can turn around their program in a matter of months instead of taking the traditional route of hoping a freshman class works out. Take the Vanderbilt Commodores, for example. The program was 2-10 last season and did not win a single game in the SEC conference. After a few significant additions from the portal, including star quarterback Diego Pavia, the team is now 6-3 with major wins against the Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers. They secured their first bowl season since the 2018 season. 

College football's best conference has seen parity impact its standings more than anyone in 2024. This is the first year since the 2007 season that no SEC team has entered November unbeaten. With the new 12-team format, three or four teams could make it from the premier conference. 

As for other programs that have yet to embrace the new changes, they should do so soon. NIL is not going anywhere; it’s ‘adapt or die,’ but with the ink on the blueprint still drying, there is still plenty of time to become a front-runner across the new landscape of college athletics.