By: Kipp Branch

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

An all too frequent headline in college football today is player x from named institution has entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Listed Below are the rules according to the NCAA pulled from their website:

Transfer Process:

Academic year in residence: Under the basic transfer regulations, you must spend an academic year in residence at the school to which you are transferring.

If you transfer from a four-year college to an NCAA school, you must complete one academic year in residence at the new school before you can play for or receive travel expenses from the new school, unless you qualify for a transfer exception or waiver.

To satisfy an academic year in residence, you must be enrolled in and successfully complete a full-time program of studies for two-full semesters or three-full quarters. Summer school terms and part-time enrollment do not count toward fulfilling an academic year in residence.

Exception: If you meet a legislated exception, it means a specific regulation will not apply to you.

The school to which you are transferring determines whether you are eligible and has the authority to apply exceptions.

One-time transfer exception: If you transfer from a four-year school, you may be immediately eligible to compete at your new school if you meet ALL the following conditions:

You are academically and athletically eligible at your previous four-year school.

You receive a transfer-release agreement from your previous four-year school.

Waiver: An action that sets aside an NCAA rule because a specific, extraordinary circumstance prevents you from meeting the rule. An NCAA school may file a waiver on your behalf; you cannot file a waiver for yourself. The school does not administer the waiver, the conference office or NCAA does.

After you digest the rules it seems simple right? That’s where the lawyers come in and that’s where the NCAA has lost total control of the entire process.

Questions/Thoughts:

What extraordinary circumstance allowed Justin Fields to be ruled immediately eligible at Ohio State?

Did the NCAA deem Fields was mentally scarred because of his botched fake punt attempt at UGA last fall with the SEC Title game hanging in the balance?

Yes, we all know OSU’s quarterback from last year now plays for the Washington Redskins.

Why wasn’t Jacob Eason granted immediate eligibility at Washington after he left UGA last season?

Former UGA TE Luke Ford was denied immediate eligibility at Illinois because he wanted to be closer to a sick relative. Are you kidding me NCAA?

Former Auburn QB Malik Willis transferred to Liberty University. He was waiting for a ruling on his eligibility from the NCAA.

Liberty learned this week that Willis’s appeal had been denied. Really NCAA? Was Liberty a threat to make the College Football Playoff this fall, or are you still mad at Hugh Freeze for breaking the rules at Ole Miss?

GT head coach Geoff Collins blasted NCAA’s decision not to grant former Florida defensive end Antonneous Clayton immediate eligibility at Tech saying that the NCAA does not have the best interest of the student athlete in mind.

Well coach the NCAA seems to have Ohio State’s best interests in mind and apparently not the best interests of student athletes who want to attend GT, Washington, Illinois, or Liberty.

The NCAA created this mess, and now it is time for them to clean it up, or have they allowed free agency to settle in for college football?

Maybe it’s a coin flip by the NCAA to determine eligibility and Ohio State adopted the tails never fails policy to get Fields cleared to play. You just never know.

Maybe put Jake Fromm in charge of the portal after he is done at UGA. He created a lot of this mess by winning the UGA QB job, or mandate NCAA member institutions to not post depth charts until 24 hours before the first scheduled game each season.

Fix this mess NCAA, your exceptions are not consistent. Where you stand on a college football depth chart is not an extraordinary circumstance.

At this rate college football will have an October 15^th trading deadline in the next 10-15 years.