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3d ago

NCAA Five-Year Rule Reaches Appellate Crossroads With Arguments This Week

Conflicting rulings on NIL-era antitrust challenges to eligibility raise the likelihood of a circuit split with Supreme Court review on the line.

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Overview

  • The Sixth Circuit hears the Pavia appeal on Sept. 16, followed by the Third Circuit in Elad on Sept. 17, with the Ninth Circuit briefed in Braham and the Fourth Circuit briefing in Robinson due Oct. 7.
  • Multiple district courts—including in Tennessee, New Jersey, Nevada, and West Virginia—granted preliminary injunctions that let athletes compete despite the Five-Year Rule.
  • Other district courts, including the Central District of California, denied injunctions after finding the eligibility rules noncommercial and outside antitrust scrutiny.
  • The Seventh Circuit reversed a preliminary injunction in Fourqurean, holding the athlete had not adequately established an antitrust claim.
  • The NCAA issued a 2025–26 waiver for certain JUCO transfers who exhausted eligibility in 2024–25, even as it appeals the injunctions that allowed several players to take the field.