What does one-time transfer portal window mean to teams like Penn State who could still be playing in January? Check back in October

The NCAA Division I Administrative Committee on Wednesday approved a Football Bowl Subdivision Oversight Committee recommendation to eliminate the spring transfer portal window. That means roster construction for Penn State and every other program for the 2026 season via player movement at the college level will only take place in the winter. When exactly it will happen, however, remains to be seen.

In a news release dated Sept. 4, the FBS oversight committee proposed that undergraduates and postgraduates alike could go into the transfer portal between Jan. 2 and Jan. 11, 2026. However, an announcement from the NCAA on Sept. 17 said the following:

“In response to student-athlete feedback, football oversight committees will consider modifications to proposed single January window, including length of window and corresponding dates.”

“Administrative Committee expects to consider those modifications during October meeting.”

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In other words, programs like Penn State and others that are currently favored to make the 12-team College Football Playoff field and among those who are projected to possibly reach the semifinals, which occur on Jan. 8-9, 2026, before the championship game on Jan. 19, still don’t know if they might have to deal with the portal and postseason prep at the same time. As for what will happen with players on teams in either the semis or title game, the NCAA said this on Sept. 4:

“Student-athletes who are members of teams that participate in a postseason contest on or after Jan. 7 may provide written transfer notification during a consecutive-five-day period beginning the day after their team’s final postseason contest.”

Obviously, the Jan. 7 part of that could change depending on the final portal window timeline decision.

All told, while it stands to reason that the Jan. 2-11 timeline will likely hold up, the fact that the NCAA received enough pushback to hold off on making it official says a great deal. And that leaves things ambiguous for at least another few weeks.

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There are two other points worth noting from the NCAA’s release on September 4: December could turn into a full dead period where visits are prohibited. Currently, it features a 14-day quiet period for on-campus stops from Dec. 8-21, 2025.

National Signing Day is Dec. 3, so it would not impact that if approved. But, the transfer portal visitors who came to State College in each of the last two Decembers would no longer be able to. Of course, if the portal does not open until January, that would not fully matter. But, that brings us to point two: As we see with Virginia Tech and UCLA right now, players still have the ability to go into the portal for up to 30 days after their head coach is fired, no matter when it happens. It’s those players who would be impacted by the prohibition on December visits. Uncommitted players in the Class of 2026 would be, too.

The NCAA Division I Administrative Committee meets in October. Final decisions are expected to be made then.