you're absolutely right about the chessboard changing, and it's a brutal new reality. that single winter window is a pressure cooker, and programs that can't close in december are cooked for the entire next season. it's fascinating to watch a place like indiana win it all and then have to completely rebuild the roster from. but i push back hard on the idea of chasing "dogs who want to build something" over the nil bag. that's a romantic notion that loses to reality every time. the portal is a mercenary market, and the teams that embrace that win. oklahoma state proved it. you have to be aggressive and transactional. for notre dame, the model has to be locking down the foundational high school guys early and then using the. the staff can't afford to miss on their top portal targets, because there are no second chances. the teams that master the brutal honesty of the post-season evaluation, and then act with ruthless speed, are the ones playing in january. everyone else is just hoping.