The NCAA Tournament is one of the most popular events in sports, and JJ Watt is concerned that the changing landscape of college athletics could ruin it.
There may be 16 teams still competing for a national championship, but the college basketball transfer portal officially opened on Monday. While players have until April 22 to enter the portal, there are still difficult decisions to be made.
Players whose teams remain alive in the NCAA Tournament can wait to make a decision on whether they want to enter the portal, but the start of the window is essentially the beginning of free agency. Anyone who waits might miss out on NIL opportunities.
In a social media post on Sunday, Watt described the timing of transfer portal window as “cannibalizing your own sport.”
“The NCAA transfer portal opening before March Madness ends (same as football portal opening before bowl season ends) is preposterous. Literally cannibalizing your own sport. Imagine NFL free agency starting the Monday after Wild Card Weekend…” Watt wrote on X.
The NCAA transfer portal opening before March Madness ends (same as football portal opening before bowl season ends) is preposterous.
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) March 23, 2025
Literally cannibalizing your own sport.
Imagine NFL free agency starting the Monday after Wild Card Weekend…
As Watt mentioned, the same issues exist with college football. We saw a prime example of that when a quarterback made the difficult decision to enter the transfer portal before his team played in the College Football Playoff this year.
Most people agree that the timelines need to change, if nothing else. Players and schools that make deep postseason runs are essentially being punished with the way things are now. Those who choose to enter the portal also are not guaranteed to have a roster spot with their current school should they change their mind.
Watt has been very open about sharing opinions on controversial topics since he retired from the NFL, but he is far from alone with his latest.
