How many will we lose in the portal?

[Voyageur]

He isn't the first and won't be the last to flip on a decision to leave a school. Maybe someone offered him some NIL money to stay at WI? Probably a bunch of things, including a good sales pitch by coaches.

I also have to wonder if some athletes that "hit the transfer portal", do so because they know that they are failing academically and instead of waiting for that card to fall, they just enter the portal. Might save them from having to take finals.

I don't know how the academic end of it works. I'd think that they need to maintain eligibility to play, and can't wash out a semester of failing grades like that, but it is interesting. It begs answering.

I do think NIL money is part of it. In the case of someone like Trech, he has a shot at ending up in the NFL. He's a good enough receiver that brings good perimeter pass receptions to the table. So, I do believe that he's seeing it from the perspective of what's going to get him into the NFL. Of course, NIL could also be part of the equation. It's just the timing, right after Locke decided to leave.

If we saw one of the other receivers do the same thing, then we'd pretty much be able to say for certain, it was coaching more than anything else.

At this point, we've been hurt bad on losses in the front 7 on defense. Guys that gave good performances this year are leaving, and I don't know that we have the horses to replace them. I know the hype is that they do, but we heard how we had QBs that were coming in through the portal who were gonna set the world on fire. Ouch! We got burned instead.

How much of a help will Grimes be in recruiting? I just don't know for sure. If he can get into the Texas recruiting for us, that could bring us some solid 3-star players who can be counted on for depth. There's so many down here that a huge number of them are hidden behind the 5 and 4-star guys.

Then there's the question as to how players are utilized. Look at Guerendo with the Badgers. He was always a "second thought' player in the Chryst system. Good back up, nothing more. Now he's doing some solid things in the NFL, and his coaches say he's the most rounded player they have, but needed help in developing his skills to the level they could be. Kind of an indictment as to how poorly the Badgers coaching was under Chryst at times.

 

[Thirteen Below]

The elite programs, will have an easy shot to bring in elite athletes. The middle of the road programs will lose and gain athletes in both directions. The bottom dwellers, well, they may feel this the most.

And I see us in the middle bracket, with a greater likelihood of sliding down to the bottom with Northwestern than clmbing to the upper level with Michigan and Ohio State. Whereas just a year ago, I thought the opposite. But honestly, I don't have any idea what to make of this team right now.

When Fickel first got here, it seemed as though our days as a 2nd-rate recruiting school were about to come to an end. It was exciting to see how many good players he was bringing in with his first class, and we also seemed to be doing really well in the portal.

In his first season with the program, Fickell coached the team to a respectable 7-5 - and then in a New Year's Day bowl against the 13th ranked team in the nation, played a very respectable game right up until the last 3 offensive plays. 9 point underdogs, they very nearly came away with an upset win on New Year's Day with a national auidience.

It was the lead game on national TV, the first kickoff of the day, and you gotta figure half the high school kids in America watched pretty much that whole game. It was the biggest audience for a Reliaquest bowl in 7 years, and the most watched ESPN2 event since 2018. By the time the other two early afternoon games started an hour later, the underdog Badgers had controlled the first half, and were taking a 21-15 lead into halftime. The entire country watched the first hour of the game, because it was the only one on, and not many people turned away at 1 PM except Tennessee, Oregon, and Iowa fans.

Those people who stayed saw Tanner Mordecai play the game of his career; in the 1st half, he was 14/20, 219 yards, 3 TDs, no interceptions. He posted an NCAA passer rating of 211 in the first half, and 171.63 for the game (by comparison, the NFL rating for the same stats would have been 145.62 for the 1st half, and 122.71 for the game), with 378 yards in the air. Mordecai rocked in a marquee game on one of the biggest national stages in college football that season.

Everybody watching that game came away thinking that Wisconsin had finally taken the next step, and the 2024 recruiting class was ranked 23rd in the nation. The Badgers had turned the corner, and the future was very promising.

And then the wheels just came off. Everything that was going right last year seems to be going wrong this year. We flip from 7-5 to 5-7, break a 22-year string of bowl eligibilty, fire two coaches, and 20 players announce they're leaving the program (some of them complaining about at least one of the remaining coaches). The top 2 quarterbacks on our depth chart are among those who jumped over the side.

From a team that less than a year ago appeared to be making a breakthrough to another level, they look today like a program in complete confusion. I don't know what to make of this team right now, or what to expect for the future, but heading into this year's bowl season it's awfully hard to feel the same optimism a lot of us felt at the beginning of this year.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

When Fickel first got here, it seemed as though our days as a 2nd-rate recruiting school were about to come to an end. It was exciting to see how many good players he was bringing in with his first class, and we also seemed to be doing really well in the portal.

I agree and would say that the TP and NIL have 100% changed things for every NCAA program. I also don't think that we have seen the full impact of either just yet. I expect the TP numbers to continue to rise, as players in all programs begin to see just how it all works out. I also see NIL money more sharply focused and growing in volume.

Championships can now be bought and paid for in the NCAA. The top athletes will be lured by both money and brighter lights. In each NCAA Sport the historic top teams will have an edge for awhile, in name and money backing. The only way those top teams will fall from grace will be a scandal, a few bad years and a slowdown of the pipeline of money being funneled in. On the flip side, the only way the lower and middle tiered teams will ever climb up to the top will be an unexpected breakout of talent in a single season or an unlikely windfall of money to buy that talent for a season or 2.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Well, this is what the NCAA is now facing due to the Transfer Portal. Marshall has opted out of playing in the Independence Bowl, after 29 of their players hit the Transfer Portal.

Absent of 6-6 teams, officials are working to determine a replacement thru a ranking of NCAA APR scores of 5-7 teams. Hey, maybe the Badgers will make a bowl game yet!

Marshall opts out of Independence Bowl over transfers: report

On the first day of college football’s bowl season, one team has elected to skip the postseason, as Marshall has opted out of the Independence Bowl against Army

www.si.com

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Looks like 2 have been gained for the Badgers in the Portal.

- Louisville edge rusher Mason Reiger

- Ball State TE Tanner Koziol


Reiger had a breakout season in 2023: 22 tackles, six tackles for loss and five sacks. He then missed the entire 2024 season after a long recovery from offseason knee surgery.


247Sports ranks Koziol as a four-star transfer recruit, the No. 48 overall player in the portal and the No. 3 player at his position.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Another Defensive Lineman picked up in the TP, as well as a QB.

DL Corey Walker, formerly played at Western Michigan, will transfer to Wisconsin.


QB Danny O’Neil, a second-year quarterback who started at San Diego State this fall, joined the Badgers on Monday after visiting Madison over the weekend. O’Neil started 11 games for the Aztecs this fall, completing 63.3% of his passes and tallying 2,181 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions. San Diego State went 3-8 in O’Neil’s starts.

BREAKING: Wisconsin lands commitment from accomplished transfer defensive lineman

Wisconsin picks up another significant transfer addition on defense.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[Firethorn1001]

DL/QB room filled in nicely at least. DB group needs work.

 

[Firethorn1001]

And with Williams and Pauling leaving, looks like the WR room needs work.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

And with Williams and Pauling leaving, looks like the WR room needs work.

I'm sure Ball State South, Fresno Tech East, Detroit Acquaintance of Frocks, Nantucket Nuns, will have guys that will sign here!

The Transfer Portal Works this Way:

Top 10 Schools Get Top Shelf players from anywhere they can grab them from using NIL or the lure of being in a top 10 program.

Top 11-25 Schools Get the leftover Best players from the top 25-50 schools. Or top players that didn't start in a better program.

The Badgers and also-rands get the untested middle graded players from anywhere they can find them.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

and just like that....a WR gained through the portal. Jayden Ballard may not have gotten a lot of playing time for the Buckeyes, but he probably starts for the Badgers in 2025.

https://athlonsports.com/college/wisconsin-badgers/wisconsin-football-lands-commitment-from-former-ohio-state-wr-jayden-ballard

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Ouch....this one hurts! I think he is going to play in the NFL.

Freshman defensive back Xavier Lucas announced he would enter the transfer portal on Thursday afternoon.

"Thank you Wisconsin for everything! I'm officially in the transfer portal," Lucas said in his announcement.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I gotta say, the Transfer Portal is more news worthy than the NFL Free agency period. If nothing else, it will give pundits a lot to talk about in between games and seasons.

These were 2 decent articles (linked below - Part 1 and Part 2) on the Badgers losses via the TP.

I have come to the conclusion that NCAA Sports programs are now basically facing what the rest of the society is facing with the younger generation; "It's all about me and if I don't like my own situation, I'm leaving."

While there are some starters leaving programs, a lot of what we see leaving and coming are "kids" that didn't feel like they were getting enough playing time and decided to go elsewhere in the hopes that they find it. A generation that has been programmed to care mainly about themselves and to mainly focus on what is best for "me". I'm not saying that doing what is best for your career is a bad thing, but sometimes feeling uncomfortable and having to work for things can be good life lessons.

The sting factor: Breaking down the worst losses for the Badgers in the transfer portal, Part 1

The Badgers have had some tough losses to the transfer portal thus far this offseason.

www.buckys5thquarter.com

The sting factor: Breaking down the worst losses for the Badgers in the transfer portal, Part 2

Which losses have hurt the Badgers the most in the transfer portal this offseason?

www.buckys5thquarter.com

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Badgers safety Kamo’i Latu entered the transfer portal. Just another guy leaving the team, but of note, is what he said, or didn't say as he left. His Twitter post might be something that Badger AD Chris McIntosh should take note of. Seems to me this was Latu letting everyone know that he did not like the current coaching staff.

You must be logged in to see this image or video!

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

This was nice to read. However, I would have to guess that Wisconsin is way up there in "Net Loss", if you compare what they gained VS. what they lost via the TP.

"Wisconsin currently boasts the top-ranked transfer class in the Big Ten."

Wisconsin 2025 transfer portal class currently ranked among best in the nation

Where Wisconsin’s transfer class currently ranks

badgerswire.usatoday.com

 

[Voyageur]

I'm going to hold judgement on where the Badgers will stand this coming season. Personally, I'm not confident they can hold their own in 2025. It's a tough schedule. We play Miami & Middle Tennessee at home, then travel to Tuscaloosa to play Alabama. Then it's Maryland, Michigan, Iowa, and Ohio State. Only Michigan on the road in The Big House. Then it's Oregon in Eugene, followed by Washington, Indiana, and Illinois, only Illinois being on the road. Then we close at Minnesota.

That is one heckuva tough schedule to live with. One game that's pretty much a confidence builder. Middle Tennessee, and only because they were horrible in 2024, and probably won't be good enough to compete against the Badgers. I'm not even certain we can beat Miami at this point.

So, assuming the worst, the Badgers could go 1-11. Gawd awful by anyone's standards, but when you look at that schedule, there isn't one team on it that we play, that we can honestly say we are better than them outside of Middle Tennessee. From what I've been seeing, U Washington is going to be an improved team in 2025, so we will probably be underdogs in that one, unless we get a slight nudge for it being a home game.

The wild card here is the offense. The defense is bringing in players to replace those who are leaving. I think several of the defenders we're losing were a bit overrated, and we might see improvement. In fact, that may well be why we've seen several guys leave the program.

On offense, there's going to be a return to the run game being emphasized, and the passing game more controlled, and in tune with the culture of the Badgers. I expect them to improve quite a bit, but I think there's going to be a shortage of skill players that can make big plays in the passing game. I think TE is going to be improved, and the QB situation in better hands, and a drop off in RBs and WRs, which is concerning. It all depends on how well Jeff Grimes can do recruiting this late in the game. We need more help at RB, and we need both possession and field stretching WRs, and right now, that's not our strong point, outside of Trech.

If the Badgers do somehow land 5 or 6 wins, it will be due to Grimes putting an offense out there that's far better than what we've been seeing. The sad part is, if he does it, he's going to be in demand for a HC job before 2026.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

It's a tough schedule.

That's an understatement, it is a downright brutal schedule.

Not that it really helps the Badgers all that much, but as we all lick the Badger TP wounds, we can take some solace in the fact that we aren't alone. Less than a year after winning the National Championship, The Michigan Wolverines are taking their licks as well. They have lost 21 players (so far) to the portal.

https://athlonsports.com/college/michigan-wolverines/major-big-ten-college-football-program-loses-21-players-transfer-portal

 

[Voyageur]

That's an understatement, it is a downright brutal schedule.

Not that it really helps the Badgers all that much, but as we all lick the Badger TP wounds, we can take some solace in the fact that we aren't alone. Less than a year after winning the National Championship, The Michigan Wolverines are taking their licks as well. They have lost 21 players (so far) to the portal.

https://athlonsports.com/college/michigan-wolverines/major-big-ten-college-football-program-loses-21-players-transfer-portal

And we don't even get a little help in playing Michigan in 2025. We have to go to the Big House to play. It's like Death Valley to the Badgers.

 

[Firethorn1001]

Just saw that Mettauer hit the portal a few days ago. Why I thought it was colossally stupid to not try to play him because he 'wasn't ready'. Well, you lost him anyways along with Locke and burned a season because you stuck with a guy that sucked and moved on anyways. For better or worse guys are generally not going to stick around for 3 years to wait to get their opportunity. He should have been played just to see.

​

 

[Voyageur]

Just saw that Mettauer hit the portal a few days ago. Why I thought it was colossally stupid to not try to play him because he 'wasn't ready'. Well, you lost him anyways along with Locke and burned a season because you stuck with a guy that sucked and moved on anyways. For better or worse guys are generally not going to stick around for 3 years to wait to get their opportunity. He should have been played just to see.

​

I think Mettauer realized that he wasn't going to have a shot at playing in 2025, because they were looking for veteran leadership, concerned about the fan base and NIL abandoning ship. One more win and things might have been different, but they weren't, and here we are.

Mabrey wants to play. I watched the kid play down here in Texas, and he's pretty good. But, as good as he was in HS, I can't say that was a guarantee to pan out at Wisconsin as well. Something seemed to be lacking, because he was never really seen as a potential at QB for even next year, the way it sounds. That tells me he just wasn't quite as good as you need to be, in a conference as powerful as the Big 10. I admit, I was high on him. I still think he's going to play somewhere.

I think the two QBs that they're bringing in fit the offense we're going to be using. That's just my opinion, since neither has stepped foot on the field, with the team, or in the new system. At this point, we're really all guessing how it will play out.

 

[Voyageur]

Beliema is recruiting Badger players relentlessly. He now has three of our defensive starting players from a year ago on the Illini. Is he seeking revenge for having been shown the door in Madison? I think he is, but he's also getting some pretty good players, who have been very productive in Madison. The problem is, Fickell has no way of stopping it, because the record doesn't show any reason for the players to respect him, or the the program at this point.

Another thing, that I believe comes into play, is that a lot of those players respected Jim Leonhard as their DC, and he was a "player's coach." He knew the game from the inside, and he taught it from that perspective. That's something that the majority of coaches can't duplicate. It's that old story that you may talk the talk, but did you, and can you walk the walk. It's all about that special respect.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I think Mettauer realized that he wasn't going to have a shot at playing in 2025, because they were looking for veteran leadership, concerned about the fan base and NIL abandoning ship.

Spot on. There are some big name players that enter the portal in the hopes that they can play on a top team, for more exposure. However, there are a lot of players around the country, like Mettauer, that realize they may never get a shot at starting with their current team and want that shot somewhere else.

It would be interesting to see some TP stats.

- How many TP participants, become starters for their next team?

- % going to: higher, same or lower ranked team.

- # of participants that transfer a 2nd or 3rd time.

- # that end up playing at the next level (Pro)

- NIL deals tied with TP

 

[Voyageur]

Spot on. There are some big name players that enter the portal in the hopes that they can play on a top team, for more exposure. However, there are a lot of players around the country, like Mettauer, that realize they may never get a shot at starting with their current team and want that shot somewhere else.

It would be interesting to see some TP stats.

- How many TP participants, become starters for their next team?

- % going to: higher, same or lower ranked team.

- # of participants that transfer a 2nd or 3rd time.

- # that end up playing at the next level (Pro)

- NIL deals tied with TP

What's amazing is the number of underclassmen, with two or more years of playing time left, who hit the portal for the second time, after one year with their new team. I'm finding that to be a measure of how weak their commitment really was from the start.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

What's amazing is the number of underclassmen, with two or more years of playing time left, who hit the portal for the second time, after one year with their new team. I'm finding that to be a measure of how weak their commitment really was from the start.

Agree. The Transfer Portal has made it super easy for Athletes to pull up stakes and start over somewhere else. This may be a great thing for some, but guessing for others, it's just delaying the inevitable, they won't have any better success as a result of a new address.

I'll tell you one thing. If I worked as a recruiter for a business, and I saw on an applicants transcript that they hopped around from team to team during their college years, that would give me pause. Would this applicant actually stay long with my company? Odds are, probably no.

 

[Thirteen Below]

That is one heckuva tough schedule to live with.

That's an understatement, it is a downright brutal schedule.

I don't remember ever seeing a tougher schedule for a Badger team. This is easily the hardest schedule in the conference, and almost certainly one of the most difficult in the country. They may end up with an even worse record than last year's.