Overview
- The Division I Cabinet approved the changes at the NCAA Convention with immediate effect, setting 2026 windows for April 6–20 (women) and April 7–21 (men).
- Following a head-coaching change, a 15-day portal window opens five days after the new coach is hired, or on day 31 if no hire is announced within 30 days.
- Other sports also shift: men’s wrestling moves to a 30-day window starting April 1, men’s ice hockey to a 15-day window beginning the Monday after its championship, and the indoor track window is removed while a 30-day outdoor window remains.
- Midyear basketball transfers who enrolled during the first academic term will not be eligible to compete at a second school.
- Postseason distributions expand as new performance units are awarded to both championship-game participants and the national champion, and the cabinet approved new championships in acrobatics & tumbling and stunt plus women’s flag football as an emerging sport.