No one ever said it doesn't hurt teams/leagues. Will it lean more favorably to power conferences overall, ABSOLUTELY. Does that mean a smaller program cannot complete, NO. I just think it's inaccurate to say it doesn't impact all teams. I also don't believe for one second the portal has anything to do with why MN and Michigan are in the FF. ZERO taken, 8 lost. How does that equate? People making this argument are also completely discounting the fact some teams have already learned how to use this to their advantage and it's not just power conferences. I also think the other poster who claims that when players leave, they are just flawed B1G players vs stars moving to stronger programs is false. What's the basis for the claim the players leaving B1G are scrubs? Most of them are going to be highly touted players who just couldn't get playing time. MN as one example lost at least 3 players I would love to have had on the roster this year, but these high-end players don't want to be 3rd and 4th line guys. Some of these players have absolutely shined this year after leaving.
Let's also examine this claim that M State wouldn't be half as good without transfers. They have exactly 3 players in it's top 14 in scoring that were transfers. Jeremy Davidson and Miroslav Mucha being the only two worth a salt. Davidson came from UMASS and scored 3 pts there in the one year he played back in 19-20. Mucha came from LSSU last year and was nice for them one year (10-25-35), but why wouldn't he leave they are terrible? Mucha's stat line coming to a stronger league 7-10-17 (not exactly earth shattering). Dubinsky, Jallen, Underwood, and Nolan were all terrible, just go look at their stats (a whopping 15 pts combined). They also lost 5 players in the portal and were fortunate to replace DeRidder (who left them for ND) by stealing St Cyr from QU. If you actually watched this team play you'd know it's upper classmen who have been at this program and it's actual incoming freshman were largely the reason for its success paired with a coach who actually knows how to do just that, coach. You can't just look at the teams results and claim it's all portal driven. The facts tell me otherwise.
Programs rise and fall all the time. Little Quinnipiac has built a dynasty in a minor league and due to their consistent success they landed possibly the best transfer of all, Graf (from inter-conference Union), and yet people just use the portal to throw up their hands and say we can't complete? Maybe if that MTU coach didn't spend his time whining and more time learning how to recruit and the school invested in it's facilities to attract better talent they too could compete more effectively. Some schools get it, and some don't (plenty of examples of smaller programs understanding this). If I were MTU I'd be hustling to get new facilities in place and start learning how to recruit via the portal. This team was once a great power in another time, it can be again, but it needs to accept reality and start learning how to make it work for them rather than acting defeatist. Also, if a program as awful as M State has been, was able to grab a few players perhaps you should look at your coaching staff and ask, why couldn't you figure out how to bring in bit better talent too given how solidly we've been near the top of our league of late?
I'm not discounting your opinion, I think you're an intelligent poster and appreciate all your comments these last few months. I took issue with the original poster who claimed this is all just turning into a gold elite tourney for the three "power" conferences because of the portal. Everyone, even you knew MTU was giving up way too many grade A chances and Pietila has holding it together like duct tape over a leaky pipe. The pipe burst the last two weeks and for me I look to the coaching staff not the portal.
