Overview
- The Division I Cabinet voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a five-year, five-season eligibility model that will be finalized at the close of the cabinet meeting.
- Under the rule an athlete’s five-year clock starts at first full-time college enrollment or at the start of the academic year after their 19th birthday, whichever comes first.
- The policy eliminates traditional redshirts and most medical or hardship waivers while preserving narrow exceptions for pregnancy, active-duty military service and official religious missions.
- Implementation is phased: schools must submit waiver requests under the old rules by July 31, the model fully applies to athletes enrolling in 2027-28, and currently enrolled athletes with remaining eligibility may choose the more favorable system while graduates whose eligibility ended in spring 2026 are excluded.
- Player-side attorneys are preparing lawsuits challenging the rule’s non-retroactivity, and the change follows years of litigation, COVID-era waivers and NIL-driven roster shifts that the NCAA says it seeks to curb.