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The College Football Playoff is finally here, with the action starting on Friday night as Indiana travels to Notre Dame to kick things off in this new 12-team format. After what feels like it was just yesterday we were watching Georgia Tech defeat Florida State to open the season, the postseason is set, with the potential for a number of upsets along the way. 

As for what’s been going on since the twelve teams were announced last week, the main focus has been on the transfer portal in college football. Along with the chaos that this presents, there have been a number of storylines to follow leading up to the first game this week. 

Whether that’s players leaving teams for the portal while their teammates prepare for the CFP, or an all-out assault on ticket sales between Tennessee and Ohio State, the college football world is buzzing. 

So, let’s get into this week’s questions, as I narrowed them down to three for time consumption. Trust me, I read every single email sent my way, and decided these were the three hottest topics in my mailbox. 

Hey Trey. Can you please explain why in the heck our backup QB would transfer before our game against SMU on Saturday? As a Penn State fan, I wonder if it’s really the ‘postseason model’ like Beau Pribula said. 

Rick – Altoona, PA

Well, I think the obvious reason why Beau has decided to enter the transfer portal centers around Drew Allar coming back for another season. As for the timing, we are in a very tricky spot right now with the transfer portal calendar, and the College Football Playoff. 

When you see a player hit the portal while his team is preparing for a playoff game in five days it’s usually a sign that there’s something else going on behind the scenes. Beau Pribula could have stuck with the team through the playoffs, like we’ve seen with many Arizona State players recently. I don’t think it helped the situation when Drew Allar announced his return, but you can be the judge on that. 

The problem is that the transfer portal window has atrocious timing. You’re forcing these players to make a decision while also fighting for a title. And that’s just the teams in the playoffs. Why should the programs who are competing in the CFP take a hit, while the ones who didn’t make it are now having to worry about this problem? It doesn’t make sense, but there’s not a lot that does right now with the calendar in this sport. 

They (NCAA) have got to figure out a better solution for this, and I won’t act like i have one. But, players are going to look out for their future, and it’s coming at the worse time possible for twelve programs. 

I saw your tweet about ticket sales on the secondary market for the Ohio State vs Tennessee game. Why do you think there are so many tickets available? I’m about tired of hearing about an invasion of fans. 

Eddie – Columbus, Ohio

Hey Eddie, my goodness, that got some people talking. Here’s my take on what happened with Ohio State ticket sales for the CFP game against Tennessee. First off, when the Buckeyes put tickets on sale through a ‘presale’ for season ticket holders, that felt like an ‘onsale’ for extras. Every season ticket holder filled out a form to get their regular seats for this game. Then, however many they had left to sell, were put on the Ticketmaster website for a ‘general public’ onsale. 

It didn’t help that the pre-sale code was either very simple to figure out, or Tennessee fans just got hold of it. Now, I want to make something clear, and all you have to do is look at the Ticketmaster site, or secondary markets to notice this. There are chunks of tickets in the same section, that you can buy up to six or twelve for. If you notice the stadium map feature when purchasing tickets, you can see the amount of seats that are together. 

Having written on this in the past, that tells me the brokers scooped up a truckload of tickets and flooded the market, hoping to make a profit. The problem is that the prices have pretty much leveled off, so I’d be curious to know how much these companies are actually going to make. Do I think some season ticket holders are selling off their seats? Sure, but not that many, as to what the Ticketmaster site says. 

As for the ‘Orange Invasion’. Yes, there will be a lot of orange in Columbus on Saturday. But, that should be expected when you have a first-time game like this, with so much on the line, along with a rabid fan base like Tennessee. I would imagine there will be around 15,000 in Orange, to mix in with 85,000 fans in Scarlet. Just enjoy that game, and the scenery, as it’s going to make for a fun environment on Saturday night. 

Trey, what’s your gut feeling about this Bill Belichick stuff? Can he actually win at North Carolina? 

Ash – Chapel Hill, NC

Never in a million years did I think we’d be talking about college football and Bill Belichick in the same sentence that didn’t have to do with the NFL Draft. But here we are, and he’s now leading the North Carolina program. I have my concerns about this, but I also think that when Belechick gets his entire staff to UNC, things will become much clearer. 

Look, the Tar Heels are not some football program that was dead in the water before Belichick arrived. I think there were a number of coaches who could’ve taken the job and found some type of success. What I’m interested in is how GM Michael Lombardi and Belichick are going to run this program, and how that translates down to the players on the field. Every strong college football program is has a goal to prepare players for the NFL, so it’s not as if Bill Belichick is some type of visionary for this idea in his press conference. 

My main concern is how this translates to wins for North Carolina, and competing for the ACC championship on a yearly basis. They can become some NFL ‘Triple A’ team, but it doesn’t mean a damn thing if they aren’t winning games in the process. 

Alright, that’s going to do it for this week. Remember, you can email me your questions Trey.Wallace@OutKick.com and I’ll get back to you.