All very good points. This idea from some that Ohio is somehow going to fall back to what it once was next season is baffling to me. There is a football “program” in Athens, not just a football “team” from year to year. Ohio is the model of consistency in the MAC. If there was ever a program that showcases that notion it is Ohio. Sure, the MAC Championship is missing. But the rest of the proven results are not. Look at the highs and lows that much of the rest of the MAC goes through. For many of them their year to year results track like a roller coaster. Meanwhile, Ohio hums right along as an annual title contender and keeps racking up bowl wins left and right. Look at the amount of talent that sat out of the bowl and how well the talent behind those guys did. GSU was overwhelmed by it. This stems back to how well Ohio recruits. You take just about any other MAC team and strip them of their top 2 qb’s, top 2 rb’s, 2 of their top wr’s and their best lb and tell them to try and win a bowl game and they’re going to get rolled. What this team did under those exact circumstances can’t be overlooked. Sure Ohio came into the game the much better team. But after the portal defections, this game could have had a much different look and flavor. I for one wonder if Ohio had all of the guys it didn’t if they could have produced the same kind of result as the one the team produced without them??? It would be tough to duplicate, that’s for sure. Ohio football is here to stay and rest assured Ohio will be right in the mix for a MAC Championship next season. Hell, they might even go ahead and finally win it!

To make a "cross over" to the "did Frank hold the program back ? " thread.

My wife and I met one of Frank's uncles at a game ,during his first season.

Hs uncle said that he came to O.U. to "build a program, not just win a few games".

Seems he accomplished that.

There will always be naysayers of this football program and Coach Solich. What Coach Solich brought to Ohio University was consistency. He did more than win a few games; he built this football program. His long time assistant Coach Albin has continued to strengthen the program with back to back ten win seasons. The Bobcats have never accomplished consecutive ten win seasons. With the portal and NIL changing college football as we know it, it will be a huge challenge for coaches in the future. I have the utmost confidence in Coach Albin and his staff to prepare this team for success.

Our first team all conference quarterback is playing at. . .Indiana. As a 5th year senior.

Unless I'm missing it, I'm not seeing much sign that there's a pipeline from OU to major college football. And certainly not one that suggests that a single good game against a 6-6 Sun Belt team nabs somebody an offer and a ton of money from the P5. To call that a "sad reality" ignores the actual reality.

Last year we had two players transfer "up" -- Daxon to Illinois, Vakos to Wisconsin. This year, we have two commits to Indiana and a few folks uncommitted. But it's not like our guys are leaving for million dollar pay days at Texas. The idea that the transfer portal has upended our program in a way that means we're unable to be optimistic about the future seems pretty unfounded to me.

Hunt had a great game.
But no one knew anything about him.
So there was no way to know how to defend him.
Also Georgia Southern was not exactly a defensive power house.

The kid has talent.
But we'll have to see how he does when defenses know more about him.

I could be wrong, but I think a lot of schools might be hesitant
to offer him, based on one game.

As they say "you don't propose on the first date".

According to this ranking, there are 4 MAC players in the top 200 ranked players in the transfer portal.

https://247sports.com/season/2024-football/transferportaltop /

There'll be plenty of transfers from the MAC, but suspect most of them are going to be transfers down, or lateral moves. If that trend continues, it's won't surprise me if the volume in the portal drops a bit going forward.

Right now it and the NIL are shiny new toys, and they're immature markets. Nobody is quite sure how best to utilize either, and strategies will become more refined as people create more data on the success of the portal as a recruiting tool.

That list goes down to 375, and here is what I found. Players leaving the MAC:
#40 DeQuan Finn, Toledo QB (To Baylor)
#76 Kurtis Rourke, Ohio QB (To Indiana)
#119 Jalen Husky, BG CB (To Maryland)
#127 Devin Grant, Buffalo S (To Syracuse)
#181 Vinny Sclury, Toledo IOL (To Texas Tech)
#185 Tanner Koziol, Ball St TE (To Louisville)
#219 Corey Steward, Ball St OT (To Purdue)
#258 Trey Jones, CMU S (To Texas A&M)
#269 Andreas Paaske, EMU TE (To Arkansas)
#274 Mikah Coleman, EMU DL (To U. Cincy)
#308 Ryan Johnson, Akron DL (To S. Miss)
#333 Casey Thomas, Akron LB (To Virginia)
#353 Corey Thomas, Akron LB (To Virginia)
#375 Zach Conti, EMU IOL (To S. Miss)

Players to the MAC:
#297 Jaddarrius Perkins, to Toledo CB (From Florida)
#309 Porter Rooks, to EMU WR (From NC St)
#331 Jefferson Adam, to Buffalo Edge (From Iowa St)
#345 Drew Vlotto, to EMU QB (from Minnesota)
#348 Stanley King, to Kent St WR (from Northwestern St)

So, from that group, about nine are moving up to P5 teams from the 1-290 group. Above 290, it is a mix of players coming and going, players moving up, and players moving down.

It's a new world, and those that adapt will do fine. I expect:
1.The best teams will become even better, as they can shed their worst players, and replace them from the best proven players from elsewhere, plus very good Freshmen.
2. Bottom P5 teams will either have to come up with a lot of NIL money, or find themselves always several steps behind, a step in recruiting Freshmen, and another in the portal, as they lose their best players, and have to look for not-quite tip-top replacements
3. G5 programs will have to be nimble. They will lose many of their best players later in their career, but can replace them with top FCS or Division II talent, or with players who didn't make the team at P5 schools.
4. FCS and below will lose their best players, but have an ample supply of players moving down.

Overall, things will remain more or less the same, with the exception that the top teams will get even better, and that second tier teams will have the possibility of spending their way into a higher tier...if it works.

Exactly. I'm seeing MAC players moving "up" to Baylor, Indiana, Maryland, Syracuse, Texas Tech, Louisville, Purdue, Pitt, Minnesota, and Arkansas. I'm not seeing them moving to tOSU, Michigan, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, USC, etc. The result is that, on a second tier P5 team, the players will get more exposure, and play against the best players, but they will do so with a weaker supporting cast, and usually in a losing effort. Will they put up big numbers? Will they stand out, and attract draft interest? I think the odds are against them. Will they collect more NIL than they would at Ohio? Without a doubt, and that will be the reason they go.

Could a MAC player jump to, say, Minnesota, do well, and then jump a year later to Alabama (and collect really big NIL money)? Sure, it could happen, but you are right, it's unlikely they will go directly from the MAC to the big bucks.

In glancing through the portal, there are a number of lower tier P5 schools that are obviously spending a lot in the portal. Schools I saw a lot were Mississippi State, Arizona State, and Colorado, and a few others. We shall see if the spending produces the results they are after. If it does, others will follow.

In football in general, it feels like there's been a major shift in how RBs are valued and it seems very rare that a RB is so elite that they end up with a massive payday. Look at Jonathan Taylor and Saequon Barkley, for instance.

RBs are more or less anonymous at this point, aside from a top 1% of guys. If other schools want to dole out big NIL money for them, cool. But I hope we never do. It seems like the definition of a 'next man up' position.