The new look 12-team College Football Playoff has provided schools with a shot at the sport’s most coveted trophy. However, Name, Image, & Likeness, and the transfer portal have also created substantial changes to the landscape of college football.
Sometimes these drastic changes to the sport manage to overlap with one another, as was the case with one playoff team.
The Southern Methodist Mustangs managed to crack the field of 12 despite losing the ACC conference championship to the Clemson Tigers. However, the Mustangs will have to make do without a former star quarterback.
Preston Stone announced on Twitter that he was entering the transfer portal.
— Preston Stone (@_prestonstone) December 11, 2024
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for our program. You’ve been nothing but a class act & a great teammate since you first set foot on campus. Wishing you the best wherever you end up next. Pony Up!!!” one person wrote on Twitter.
“You are a class act, especially how you handled this season. Finish strong and I will be rooting for you every time you lace up your cleats,” another fan added.
“Preston, everything this team has achieved is built upon bricks you helped lay, steeped in culture you helped build. You have personified excellence on & off the field & we are so proud to call you an SMU Mustang, now & forever! Go be great but the Hilltop will always be home,” one fan added.
“You will always be a Mustang and now go get a graduate degree and an adventure,” someone else added.
Hopefully, Stone will end up with another national title contender.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.