Auburn running back Tank Bigsby expected to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal

The coaching carousel might have taken over college football at the end of the regular season, but there has been a lot of significant movement in the NCAA Transfer Portal as well. Another notable name could be entering the portal, this time being Auburn star running back Tank Bigsby. Auburn Live’s Justin Hokanson said that he expects Bigsby will enter the portal.

Earlier on Sunday evening, Auburn quarterback Bo Nix announced that he would be entering the portal. Nix and Bigsby were a formidable punch for the Tigers, but now both will be on the move.

Bigsby immediately made an impact in 2020 as a true freshman for Auburn. He rushed for 834 yards and five touchdowns, earning SEC Freshman of the Year honors. Bigsby also earned Second Team All-SEC honors as a freshman.

This season, Bigsby again made a great impact on Auburn’s offense. In 2021, Bigsby ran for 1,003 yards and ten touchdowns on 207 carries. He also had 16 receptions for 116 yards.

Bigsby opened the season with three consecutive 100-yard rushing performances, including a 102-yard, two-touchdown day against a good Penn State defense. He immediately becomes one of the biggest names in the portal, and he should make an instant impact wherever he decides to go.

Transfer portal background information for Bigsby, Auburn

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be  contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.

The portal has been around since Oct. 15, 2018 and the new calendar cycle within the portal begins each August. For example, the 2021-22 cycle started Aug. 1. During the 2020-21 cycle, 2,626 FBS football players entered the transfer portal (including walk-ons). That comes after 1,681 entered during the 2019-20 cycle and 1,709 during the abbreviated 2018-19 cycle. In comparison, 1,833 Division I basketball players entered the portal during the 2020-21 cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.