It's been a busy few days for both Oklahoma and college football.

The Sooners have snagged a few wins in the transfer portal since it opened earlier this month, including landing commitments from running back Sam Franklin, Deion Burks, Dezjhon Malone and Spencer Brown. However, they've also lost some players to the portal — most notably true freshman Cayden Green, who shockingly announced his departure on Tuesday.

But the Sooners are far from the only program who've been significantly impacted by the portal, and activity has only continued to increase in recent years. That has resulted in some discussion about the future of the portal and whether there's a need for more regulations and rules.

Plus, the Sooners have early signing day on Dec. 21 and they'll leave on Dec. 23 for the Alamo Bowl. There's a lot to analyze.

Jesse Crittenden and Brian Clinton discuss some of the questions facing both Oklahoma and the college football landscape:

Jesse: It's a tough situation for the Sooners. It's not often you see a true freshman leave Oklahoma, particularly when they saw immediate playing time and projected to be a cornerstone player heading into the future. It also doesn't help that the Sooners are losing Andrew Raym, Tyler Guyton, Walter Rouse, McKade Mettauer, Caleb Shaffer, Savion Byrd and Aaryn Parks.

But, it's not like there aren't still talented players on the roster. Jacob Sexton showed a lot of promise late in the season. The team is excited about other young guys like Nate Anderson, Logan Howland and Heath Ozaeta. The Sooners also just added Eddy Pierre-Louis, a top offensive linemen in the 2024 class. Oh, and they're likely to add several veteran linemen in the portal.

The Sooners have taken some wins and some losses so far. Green is a loss. But there are certainly paths forward for the Sooners.

Bryan: Let's get this out of the way: No roster in the country wouldn't immediately be better having Cayden Green on it. He's a future NFL talent at offensive guard, and the Sooners offensive line is worse off without him in Norman. However, he was a freshman, and as promising as his future is, there are still plenty of ways that Bill Bedenbaugh can field an offensive line that is more than good enough to compete in the SEC. With Oklahoma looking like the front-runner for veteran linemen Febechi Nwaiwu and Geno VanDeMark, that is two interior offensive linemen that can step in and help right away. Joshua Bates looks like a guy who could slot in at center for now, but we've seen Bedenbaugh mix and match lineups until he finds one that he likes. That could be Bates at guard, or a guy like Jake Taylor working in there. Plus, adding Eddy Pierre-Louis on Friday could shore things up along the offensive line in a hurry. Everyone just needs to take a breath with this one. It's going to be okay.

Bryan: Absolutely something needs to change, but the problem is, how does the NCAA get legislation out that can improve things without it immediately backfiring? The lack of rules and regulations that were in place for the transfer portal and name, image, and likeness (NIL) are the biggest reason why college football feels the way that it does right now. Unfortunately, there's no way for the NCAA to draw everyone back in under one umbrella and enforce the rules without the backing of the federal government. It is quite literally going to take an act of Congress (no figure of speech) to get things under control, and with everything that is currently happening in this country and around the world, there's no telling how far down the list that college football is on the docket. I'll say this much, the market will regulate itself at some point, as donors begin to realize that lucrative deals aren't paying off like they'd hoped. Howe long that will take though, is anyone's guess.

Jesse: Here's the reality. NIL and the transfer portal have completely transformed college football, and it's happened in the blink of an eye. A big reason for that? The lack of action from the NCAA for decades. The NCAA turned a blind eye, and by the time NIL was implemented and the transfer portal rules changed, it was too late.

It's a tough situation. College football is a multi-billion dollar business, and the players are the main reason. Until recently, there were too many rules in place that restricted players and their careers. But now, that's not the case. A lot of people compare the current landscape to NFL free agency, but this is something different. Players now can leave and have absolutely no obligation to their school. NFL players, typically, have contracts that usually keep them tethered. More and more players are unexpectedly hitting the portal (i.e. Cayden Green) with little to no warning, and there's no recourse for coaches except to put together a makeshift roster, ironically, through the portal.

I could go on and on, but I think the first step is to acknowledge the situation for what it is — there's not much that separates college football from the NFL. Once that is accepted, we can start to discuss realistic solutions that maintain freedom for players while also giving teams more options on roster construction. Does that mean player contracts? Does that mean tethering aspects of NIL to universities, as opposed to collectives? Maybe. Maybe not. But I don't think the current landscape is sustainable.

Jesse: I'll be watching the linebacker room. Obviously, Danny Stutsman will take the bulk of the snaps at weakside linebacker. But who takes the middle spot? It was Jaren Kanak through the first half of the season, but his snaps significantly declined down the stretch. Kip Lewis saw the majority of the snaps, and Kobie McKinzie saw more playing time, too. Will the Sooners lean on Lewis, who started the last four games? Do they go back to Kanak? How are the snaps dispersed?

Bryan: It's got to be quarterback, right? Dillon Gabriel is gone, and the Jackson Arnold era has officially begun. The five-star freshman is getting a shot at being the starter in Norman about eight months ahead of schedule and I believe it works out very well for his development. Being the starter in the bowl game means he'll get all 15 bowl practices to himself, and that's huge considering Oklahoma is also breaking in a new offensive coordinator. Arnold is an incredible athlete and I expect him to have a big game in San Antonio. If it's not quarterback, I'm curious to see how the running back situation plays out. We know that Gavin Sawchuk is the starter, but behind him, it's a mystery. Tawee Walker is practicing despite being portal-bound, but will he stick around until the bowl game? Behind him there are so many names that are a total mystery. Is Jovantae Barnes finally healthy? If not, is it Kalib Hicks? Xavier Robinson? It'll be something to watch for sure.

Jesse: I'm curious to see if Jovantae Barnes sees any playing time. It's easy to forget that the sophomore running back was widely projected as the team's starting running back heading into the season. Instead he played just 94 snaps, per Pro Football Focus, as Gavin Sawchuk and Tawee Walker outplayed him on the field. Barnes did struggle with an injury for a lot of the season, but he was full participant in the team's open practice on Tuesday. Walker is still with the team but he has announced his intention to enter the portal, along with Marcus Major and Daylan Smothers. If Barnes sees the field and plays well, that could go a long way towards carving out a bigger role next season.

Bryan: The more I thought about this question, the more I realized that it was Dasan McCullough. Coming into this season, McCullough was on a steep learning curve after transitioning from a strictly-pass rushing role at Indiana to playing Cheetah for Brent Venables. I feel pretty confident in saying that he could be the player that I expect to take the biggest jump from the final game of the regular season to the bowl game. On the year, McCullough has 27 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss, but he dealt with several injuries along the way. Now, after a chance to shut it down for a bit and get healthy, there's a great chance that we see the best version of the 6-foot-5, 220-pound nickel that we've seen all season. 15 bowl practices is essentially an extra spring of football, so a big jump here would be huge for his development going into the SEC next season.