Overview
- The Division I Board publicly reiterated Thursday that it will not modify how the new age-based five-seasons-in-five-years eligibility rule is applied, despite multiple lawsuits seeking extra seasons for players.
- Under the rule the eligibility clock starts at full-time college enrollment or the academic year after a player’s 19th birthday and generally removes traditional redshirts and injury-based extensions.
- A Hamilton County, Ohio judge granted a preliminary injunction allowing 15 affected players to enter the transfer portal and play this season, and other courts have issued temporary restraints or injunctions in separate cases.
- The NCAA has appealed unfavorable orders and sought stays while warning it will enforce the rule as written, creating legal and administrative uncertainty for waiver deadlines, scholarship planning, and NIL deals.
- If the rule stands, recruits enrolling in fall 2027 will be fully subject to the age-based model, and the litigation’s mixed rulings could leave schools and conferences facing uneven roster outcomes and further appeals.