r/CFB • u/Fonzie5 UCF Knights • Big 12 • Apr 08 '26
News [Dellenger] The NCAA is exploring a significant change to its eligibility rule, sources tell @YahooSports. The proposal creates an age-based standard: Athletes would have 5 years of eligibility from their 19th birthday or HS graduation. No redshirts or waivers.
https://x.com/rossdellenger/status/2041852893934862368?s=46&t=FavtrbPsHpJY8Odvh2TYUA2.7k
u/chimatt767 Texas Longhorns Apr 08 '26
This would be a huge improvement.
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u/whistleridge NC State Wolfpack • Vermont Catamounts Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
Only if the courts let it stand. Which you know they won’t. The first time someone gets sick or hurt or goes on mission, or has some other really good and sympathetic reason, they’re going to sue, and all indications are, they’ll win.
Edit: stop asking me about why I think X. I don’t think X. I’m saying, you only have to take the slightest glance at the last decade of court decisions to recognize that a rule like this won’t stand.
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u/mac_y111 Tennessee State Tigers Apr 08 '26
It’s legal for high schools to have age based limits. It should be legal for colleges.
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u/Jzzlbbr57 Texas Longhorns • Nebraska Cornhuskers Apr 08 '26
The difference is college “student athletes” are paid. By restricting their ability to earn money without a collective bargaining agreement like NFL or MLB, the NCAA is prohibiting a college athlete from earning a living. This is against antitrust labor laws. The only way out of this is to establish NCAA athletes as employees under the NLRA and create a players union. Otherwise all legal challenges will be struck down on antitrust.
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u/ech01_ Ohio State Buckeyes Apr 08 '26
I think the argument from the NCAA side would be that since NCAA athletes are paid based on their name, image, and likeness then there's technically nothing restricting their ability to make money once they're out of eligibility. Anyone can get NIL deals. They're essentially just deals for being popular. Being a college athlete obviously increases someone's value but losing that value once you're out of eligibility is just the free market acting on its own.
That's probably a big part of why they're fighting to not make them employees. As employees you need an antitrust exemption to say you can only have this job for 5 years. But if they're not employees then its not a job and they can set what kind of limits they want.
If they do become employee's then you're right, they would need some sort of union and CBA to govern all of this.
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u/Jzzlbbr57 Texas Longhorns • Nebraska Cornhuskers Apr 08 '26
All colleges are separate entities, they can’t create a governing body like the NCAA to artificially restrict employment opportunities or collude to restrict fair market price for services.
This would be like Target, Amazon, and Walmart creating a joint partnership and setting up restrictions on prices they’ll pay for services or goods. It’s collusion and is plainly against antitrust laws.
The inevitable end to this is either college athletes become direct employees of university athletics, and/or they create a players union like pro sports, Congress passes a new law creating a new model, or it continues to be a free for all like we have today. I just don’t see how they can get around the legalities of antitrust laws without a collective bargaining agreement.
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u/ech01_ Ohio State Buckeyes Apr 08 '26
they can’t create a governing body like the NCAA to artificially restrict employment opportunities or collude to restrict fair market price for services.
That's the thing. The way this is all currently set up its not an employment opportunity. No one is paid to play a sport. The NCAA has been very clear on all that.
The way its all set up athletes are more or less influencers right now. They're basically paid to endorse a company. And they just happen to also play a sport for that company for free.
Its all BS in reality, but that's how it currently works. The schools are fighting tooth and nail to keep them from being employees so they can keep some sort of eligibility rules. Otherwise you're correct, you'd need some sort of CBA or government intervention to allow any of it.
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u/BoldElDavo Virginia Cavaliers Apr 08 '26
House settlement. The schools are sharing revenue with athletes now. The schools can sit there and argue that the athletes are not "employees", but the athletes will still say it's their professional trade, whether or not they're an "employee" of the schools, and restricting them from plying their trade is an antitrust violation.
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u/ech01_ Ohio State Buckeyes Apr 08 '26
According to what I'm reading revenue sharing is still an NIL deal. They're pushing the limits of it, but they're doing everything they can to makes sure they're not employees.
https://www.collegesportscommission.org/revenue-sharing/
The specific quote I'm looking at is this.
Institutions may enter into exclusive/nonexclusive licenses with student-athletes for NIL use. [NCAA Bylaw 22.1.1]
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u/nordic-thunder Vanderbilt Commodores Apr 08 '26
Yeah that’s why the courts keep striking down any and all attempts to restrict or limit their ability to earn, because the courts can’t see through that very thin charade and tell that it’s just pay-for-play /s
The NCAA can say whatever it wants. Until the courts strike it down as an anti trust violation and then lets the athlete do what they want
That’s the point. The NCAA keeps trying to do this illegally because it’s easier/cheaper and hoping to only lose so many court cases.
It’s the “they can’t call every foul” version of administration lmao
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u/ech01_ Ohio State Buckeyes Apr 08 '26
You're not wrong. Anything is tenuous until the courts strike it down. But people also over exaggerate how often the NCAA loses in court. For every Trinidad Chambliss there's a Joey Aguilar.
The NCAA manages to hold up some times, so they'll keep on fighting to keep thing the way they want them.
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u/Busta_Memes Georgia Tech • Pop-Tarts Bowl Apr 08 '26
High school athletes are paid in many states now
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u/BoldElDavo Virginia Cavaliers Apr 08 '26
Additionally, there isn't one single national entity setting a standard age limit for all high school players. It's hard to make an antitrust argument against hundreds of different high school athletics associations unless you can prove they're colluding with each other.
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u/Happycappybara21 Texas Longhorns • UTSA Roadrunners Apr 08 '26
Those are rules for enrollment… you know for school and stuff.
Colleges have not had age limits for regular academic enrollment.
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u/GerdinBB Iowa State Cyclones • Missouri Valley Apr 08 '26
Yeah all the past court cases have suggested that you can't apply different restrictions on athletes than apply to normal students. So unless you want to say no one can enroll unless they're within 5 years of their 19th birthday, I don't see any way this stands.
Don't get me wrong, if college athletes were truly between 18 and 23 years old it would be a huge improvement. Add back in some transfer restrictions and we'd get what we all wanted 10 years ago - let the players get paid but we still want it to look like the sport we love. No almost 30 year olds playing, no free agency every year.
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u/RiffRamBahZoo TCU Horned Frogs • Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors Apr 08 '26
No almost 30 year olds playing
25 years ago, Chris Weinke literally won the Heisman as a 28-year-old QB, lol
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u/SwiftlyChill Minnesota • Colorado State Apr 08 '26
People really struggle with the fact that the “professionalization” here of college athletes has been enabled by…holding them to the standards of regular college students.
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u/shortround10 Iowa Hawkeyes Apr 08 '26
College has young adults vs geezers
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u/All-wildcard Wisconsin Badgers • Montana Grizzlies Apr 08 '26
So does every other professional league
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u/Klongon /r/CFB Apr 08 '26
Anything that stops 50 year old LeBron from leading the Zips to the tourney is bad.
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u/All-wildcard Wisconsin Badgers • Montana Grizzlies Apr 08 '26
Let LeBron play college, then implement an age cap
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u/King_Roberts_Bastard Clemson Tigers Apr 08 '26
So are the geezers not allowed to get a college education?
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u/mr_potato_thumbs Apr 08 '26
College has plenty of “kids” by legal definition. My wife’s swim team (D1) had a 16 year old Italian girl. One of our friends was 17 for majority of freshman year. While I was 19 for the majority of my senior year of high school.
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u/bbb26782 Georgia • Valdosta State Apr 08 '26
Can you believe Ryan Williams was 17 when he was a freshman?
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u/IndyDude11 Texas Longhorns • Indiana Hoosiers Apr 08 '26
Surely someone would have let us know that if that were true.
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u/King_Roberts_Bastard Clemson Tigers Apr 08 '26
High school is mandatory. College is not. I can choose to go work first and come back to college later.
You cant put any restrictions on the athletes that you dont also put on the general student population. So unless youre saying that even normal students shouldn't be able to go to college after the age of 23, youre solution isnt viable.
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u/BaitSalesman Georgia Bulldogs • SEC Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
Yes, but this has to do with adults pursuing fair market value for a valuable skill set. There is no legal framework in the US to restrict this freedom (by design) other than antitrust exemptions and collective bargaining. This is a declarative exercise at best. Even an act of Congress couldn’t stop the NIL side of things. Not sure how congress can legally stop private citizens from exchanging money voluntarily if the underlying service (playing football) is legal.
This is now a job. They are getting paid. There are people willing to pay them. The NCAA is going to struggle to show how it has authority to stop that dynamic. Especially when the athletes can be enrolled as students for more than five years. It’s just an arbitrary restriction.
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u/Dijohn17 NC State Wolfpack • Howard Bison Apr 08 '26
High school is dealing with underaged children, so the rules are different
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u/SNjr Florida State Seminoles • The Alliance Apr 08 '26
Article says there would be some exceptions:
According to the concept, NCAA athletes would have five full years of eligibility from the time of their 19th birthday or their high school graduation, whichever is earliest. No waiver requests, redshirts or exceptions will be permitted, except for a small group of outliers (those on maternity leave, military service or religious missions).
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u/grrgrrtigergrr Purdue Boilermakers Apr 08 '26
They won’t because of religious discrimination for Mormons. The 2 year mission would cause an issue
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u/Mke_already Apr 08 '26
My religion believes that LeBron James can return and play for Ohio state.
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u/The_Fishbowl West Virginia • Black Diamond Tr… Apr 08 '26
they have limited exemptions for military & religious missions
"No waiver requests, redshirts or exceptions will be permitted, except for a small group of outliers (those on maternity leave, military service or religious missions)."
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u/PersonnelFowl Paper Bag • Texas Tech Red Raiders Apr 08 '26
Nothing in the LDS church says that a mission has to be done BEFORE college. That’s such a silly excuse.
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u/Rock_man_bears_fan Miami (OH) RedHawks • Nebraska Cornhuskers Apr 08 '26
The courts have generally agreed that the NCAA has the right to limit eligibility, just not student athlete earnings
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u/k_dubious Williams Ephs • Oregon Ducks Apr 08 '26
Not if you’re BYU
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Apr 08 '26
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u/A-Centrifugal-Force Apr 08 '26
Utah State has more Latter-day Saints and more returned missionaries than BYU in basketball.
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u/yeyiyeyiyo Ball State Cardinals Apr 08 '26
Every argument against U23 or something like this people use BYU as the counterexample.
It's worth making things harder for one school if it makes the system and game better.
Those dudes can do their mission later if they really want to play college sports.
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u/chimatt767 Texas Longhorns Apr 08 '26
If it’s a two year mission they still have 3 years of eligibility.
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u/hwf0712 Rutgers Scarlet Knights • The Alliance Apr 08 '26
Matt Brown is reporting that Missionary Trips, Military, and Maternity leave are the only exceptions. Probably because these are legally protected reasons in some cases (iirc) https://bsky.app/profile/mattbrown.bsky.social/post/3miyegrdljs2l
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u/YaboyRipTide Alabama • Penn State Apr 08 '26
Absolutely huge for smaller sports like Lacrosse. Super common for parents to hold their kids back a grade so they can get a leg up on others in recruiting, and I am being dead serious. I know people who went to Pre-First and repeated 9th grade. They were a calendar year older than me, but an academic year below me.
Yeah no shit your kid is faster, stronger, and better hes fucking 2 years older than everyone else
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u/Proteinchugger Penn State Nittany Lions Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
Yeah this is everywhere with wrestling too. There’s a super recruit in high school Bo Basset who is about to be 20 this month. I graduated from the school one district over at 17, by the time I turned 20 I was through two years of college and working an internship.
Edit I misread his birthday he turns 20 the summer after the school year ends so he’s still allowed to compete
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u/polexa895 Apr 08 '26
I coach a HS Jr who is 19 years old due to being held back when he was little and reclassify going into HS so now we don't even know if he'll be eligible his Sr year due to state rules
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u/CAP_0703 Navy Midshipmen • Team Chaos Apr 08 '26
Your state does not have age limits for high school sports? Mine has a limit of 19 on or before Aug 1.
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u/Fragrant-Employer-60 Apr 08 '26
Yeah that’s insane to have a 20 year old competing in high school sports wtf.
Calvin Ridley did this and only played like 3 games his senior year since he turned 19 and was barred from finishing the season.
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u/emaddy2109 Penn State Nittany Lions • Temple Owls Apr 08 '26
He’s 19 now but he’s graduating before he turns 20.
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u/goodkidzoocity North Dakota State • Notre Dame Apr 08 '26
Your comment instantly made me think of Mark Hall. When he came to Apple Valley to wrestle in Minnesota as a 7th grader, it was the 3rd tome he was in 7th grade. Went on to become the forst 6× state champ in MN
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u/Mail_Order_Lutefisk Alabama Crimson Tide Apr 08 '26
I want to meet the monster who would use a double Texas Redshirt for lacrosse. Disgusting.
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u/YaboyRipTide Alabama • Penn State Apr 08 '26
Prep lacrosse is no joke. I don't wanna dox folks, but one member of the family went on to be one of the best players in the country in college and plays in the PLL now. He is absolutely a legit player, and once you get to college a lot of the physical stuff becomes a wash, but a good bit undersized for his position, so it definitely helped early on in his career.
It is common to do the Pre-First route, though. Tough to say a 5-year-old took another year of academia because his parents had an 18-year plan to get a scholarship, but it is funny the better HS players have tended to been in pre first.
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u/Tarmacked USC Trojans • Alabama Crimson Tide Apr 08 '26
Used to be the case with College Basketball where guys would do prep years as a fifth year high school lap
Did the lacrosse route myself and it was funny how much you gamed age limits to maximize development time. I did a high level travel team that sent kids D1 and sophomore year played down a level because I was still in the U-whatever group via birth date and would be starting versus on the line.
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u/CallMeTomF Iowa State Cyclones Apr 08 '26
Wtf is pre-first? They did kindergarten twice?
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u/YaboyRipTide Alabama • Penn State Apr 08 '26
Kind of yeah. Essentially it is a year between kindergarden and 1st grade because teachers think you will struggle in Kindergarden. This can be from learning disabilities, ADHD, or you are just an Auburn fan and need the extra time.
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u/MaxwellsDaemon Kentucky • Marshall Apr 08 '26
I love the petty jab. Also fuck Louisville while I’m thinking about it
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u/austin_8 Ole Miss Rebels Apr 08 '26
And it’s not just sports, age in relation to grade is correlated to academic performance as well
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u/fightin_blue_hens Delaware • Florida State Apr 08 '26
I think the most common one now is 7th grade instead of 9th
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u/YaboyRipTide Alabama • Penn State Apr 08 '26
I've heard that yeah. The story goes they chose 1 elite prep school and didn't start as freshmen. They then transferred to a 2nd prep school and were told they probably wouldn't see the field much since this new team was loaded. Since you only get 4 years of play, they re-did 9th grade so they could play 10th - 12th as full time starters vs. splitting time in 10th and starting 11th and 12th.
Keep in mind elite prep lacrosse schools are 40k+ per year.
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u/ItsFreakinHarry2 UCF Knights • Michigan Wolverines Apr 08 '26
The things parents will do to see their kids be an athletic superstar is wild
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u/TwinflameTraveler UConn Huskies Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
It's particularly interesting for a sport like lacrosse, where from what I can find with a cursory Google search the absolute top end of the spectrum is in the low 6 figures per year in total comp between salary and endorsements, and that's for the league stars. Seems like the average comp is around $50K/yr. Definitely some weird psychology involved with living vicariously thru their kids - at least it somewhat makes sense to go all-in on your kid's athletic career for one of the 4 major sports where generational wealth is on the table.
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u/thatissomeBS Iowa Hawkeyes • Sickos Apr 08 '26
I'm guessing the kids who have parents that will do this for lacrosse probably won't really need the money. These kids likely have trust funds.
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u/WitheredUntimely Apr 08 '26
yea lax is like 80% trust fund kid by volume, 20% degenerate who discovered a legal way to hit trust fund kid with sticks -proud member of that 20%
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u/ahuramazdobbs19 UConn Huskies • Clarkson Golden Knights Apr 08 '26
It’s going to be a nightmare for college hockey, especially now that the NCAA allows people to join from the CHL.
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u/itsapigman Wisconsin Badgers • Big Ten Apr 08 '26
Yep, this will hugely impact hockey where bringing in a 21 year old freshman is fairly common. I took a quick look at Wisconsin's roster. We would have at least 6 players lose a year of eligibility because of this rule, including our best player.
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u/DrSnidely Alabama • Virginia Tech Apr 08 '26
Lawsuits are already being drafted.
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u/wjpreis Apr 08 '26
Unless colleges do the same for students I have a hard time seeing this rule surviving the courts.
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u/wolverine237 Michigan • Northwestern Apr 08 '26
There is literally no way for the NCAA to square this circle. Team USA's reliance on the NCAA is directly at odds with football players making money, it literally cannot be two things. Every dollar that goes to football and basketball players is one that used to go to Olympic sports.
Hard to see how the center holds here tbh
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u/Ok_Matter_1774 Nevada Wolf Pack • Washington Huskies Apr 08 '26
This will handicap every other country more than team USA. American NCAA athletes are usually the "correct" age. International athletes are often a few years older than what they should be and use the NCAA as a training ground. If you look at any mid major and go to their Olympic sport roster pages they're full of internationals. It's a little ridiculous.
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u/buzzer3932 Penn State • Indiana (PA) Apr 08 '26
I know a few athletes who are planning on taking 2027-28 to train for the Olympics. The same thing happened for 2024 Olympics and every other previous Olympiad since the NCAA allowed it.
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u/Lifeisagreatteacher Missouri Tigers Apr 08 '26
You can’t have players transferring every year for 5 plus years to the next highest bidder. If so, make it a professional league with contracts that are more than one year like the NFL.
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u/dkviper11 Penn State • Randolph-Macon Apr 08 '26
This could be collectively bargained… but that’s for employees in a union.
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u/coachd50 Apr 08 '26
This seems to be such a common reply, yet I don’t know if the people understand that the ones making the rules – the NCAA and it’s member schools— are the ones most conveniently opposed to officially labeling the athletes as employees
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u/GROWLER_FULL Michigan Wolverines Apr 08 '26
From the article:
“No waiver requests, redshirts or exceptions will be permitted, except for a small group of outliers (those on maternity leave, military service or religious missions).”
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u/maxman1313 Virginia Tech • North Carolina Apr 08 '26
Then just stick with 5 years of eligibility, no waivers, no redshirt, and don't worry about age.
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u/waffles Georgia Bulldogs Apr 08 '26
No she limit means you'll have people delaying even starting college so they can get training in.
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u/maxman1313 Virginia Tech • North Carolina Apr 08 '26
I'm honestly okay with that. It's not much different than what many parents do with their kids now.
Hold them back in school a year or two and then send them to a 5 year pre-college academy. Quite a few are graduating closer to 20 than 18.
The counter point is from a player perspective is, every year delayed playing is likely less money earned.
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u/NighthawkRandNum Louisville Cardinals • Army Black Knights Apr 08 '26
The odds that no waivers survives contact with the LDS (missions) and the military (for enlistees on the GI bill) is slim to none, but this would be a vast improvement.
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u/GROWLER_FULL Michigan Wolverines Apr 08 '26
This is addressed in the article:
“No waiver requests, redshirts or exceptions will be permitted, except for a small group of outliers (those on maternity leave, military service or religious missions).”
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u/NighthawkRandNum Louisville Cardinals • Army Black Knights Apr 08 '26
So it's what I get for not reading the article then 🙃
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u/thiney49 Iowa State Cyclones • Team Chaos Apr 08 '26
The title did say no waivers, so it's reasonable to not expect the content to directly contradict that.
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u/wcm48 Baylor Bears • Auburn Tigers Apr 08 '26
So you’re saying that reading the article might limit some argument/discussion on Reddit, cuz reading the article aint what we do.
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u/not_a_racoon Nebraska Cornhuskers Apr 08 '26
Like Cardale Jones, we ain’t come to Reddit to play school.
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u/BigBlackQuack Oregon Ducks • Seattle Bowl Apr 08 '26
Texas and Florida are about to have the most generous paternity leave laws in the country.
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u/RatStore101 Michigan • 早稲田大学 (Waseda) Apr 08 '26
“Listen kid we think you’re great, but you need to develop a bit, how do you feel about going on mission or enlisting for a couple years?”
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u/galacticdude7 Michigan Wolverines • /r/CFB Poll Veteran Apr 08 '26
"How do you feel about getting pregnant?"
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u/BJ_Fantasy_Podcast Utah Utes • North Carolina Tar Heels Apr 08 '26
Damn. I was hoping this would screw over BYU specifically.
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u/No-Durian-7032 Florida Gators Apr 08 '26
Totally agree, they likely create waivers for military or religious reasons, or something along those lines, but this would be a vast improvement.
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u/Mail_Order_Lutefisk Alabama Crimson Tide Apr 08 '26
Any waiver that tries to ban the double Texas Redshirt is repugnant to my sensibilities.
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u/No-Durian-7032 Florida Gators Apr 08 '26
I understand your perspective. This is the NCAA so we'll probably also get a waiver process that includes the question - "does this athlete play for (Texas, Bama, Ohio St)?" - If yes proceed to step 6.
step 6 - grant waiver.
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u/Mail_Order_Lutefisk Alabama Crimson Tide Apr 08 '26
Pull Texas and Ohio out and you got my vote!
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u/Schmenza Harvard Crimson • Tulane Green Wave Apr 08 '26
What if someone's religious reason involves taking 2 years off after high school to train and workout at a facility in South Florida?
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u/geoffreyisagiraffe Sewanee Tigers • Houston Cougars Apr 08 '26
At some point you just have to tell a 26 yo to play a club sport. And while it may seem like it sucks for LDS kids, you're still giving them three to four years of eligibility after thier mission. For military, you're just going to have to deal with the fact you gave up the opportunity to play varsity college sports.
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u/immoralsupport_ Michigan • Oregon State Apr 08 '26
How many people are actually playing in NCAA college sports after military service? I’m sure the number isn’t zero but if there were a lot of people doing this we would’ve heard about it. This would affect probably less than 10 of the thousands of NCAA athletes.
More people go into the military AFTER playing college sports…
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u/geoffreyisagiraffe Sewanee Tigers • Houston Cougars Apr 08 '26
I imagine you see a lot more of them in non revenue sports, D2, and D3 levels. If we had actual veterans playing against Ohio State on Saturdays, ESPN would have a patriotic aneurysm and would air gameday with Kirk Herbstreit and Desmond Howard blowing each other on a tank. The hot air coming out of Pat McAfee alone would be enough to facilitate a regional blimp racing festival.
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u/NighthawkRandNum Louisville Cardinals • Army Black Knights Apr 08 '26
Which might frankly make it so that these changes are only really necessary for D1 where current rules are very thoroughly abused whereas D2/D3 can stay the same.
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u/Dokkan_Lifter James Madison Dukes Apr 08 '26
That probably wouldn't hold up in court. LDS/other churches would argue religious discrimination, Veteran lawyers would say its discrimination against vets too.
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u/TraderJoeslove31 UConn Huskies • Virginia Cavaliers Apr 08 '26
How many former enlistees are playing college sports though ? Most who go into the military do it after graduation. I know at least 2 uva men’s lax players who do it after graduation. One managed to do rotc and lax in college.
Also Gtfo with the mission. Sometimes we gotta make sacrifices. Jesus did.
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u/dacomell FIU • UMass Lowell Apr 08 '26
Someone mentioned that that sort of thing is probably more common at the lower levels, and I'd probably concur. It wouldn't shock me to see former enlistees use their GI Bill, enroll at a D3 school, and then join a sports team that way.
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u/InsuranceOEHL Penn State • Millersville Apr 08 '26
This would make sense, the courts keep making eligibility rulings but I think an age based league is probably legally more defensible.
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u/SNjr Florida State Seminoles • The Alliance Apr 08 '26
It’s funny that everyone keeps bringing up the “no waiver” headline when literally in the article it says there will be a small set of exceptions:
According to the concept, NCAA athletes would have five full years of eligibility from the time of their 19th birthday or their high school graduation, whichever is earliest. No waiver requests, redshirts or exceptions will be permitted, except for a small group of outliers (those on maternity leave, military service or religious missions).
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u/IJustWorkHere000c LSU Tigers • Campbell Fighting Camels Apr 08 '26
I’d go with the straight age requirement. People holding their kids back in school for a competitive advantage and having them be damn near 20 years old when they graduate is insane. Gain the age advantage in high school, enjoy the penalty when you get to college.
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u/katieishere92 North Carolina • Ohio State Apr 08 '26
I’ve never understood why this is allowed anyway. The idea there are 20 year olds attending schools where 14 year olds are is so weird.Off to night school with the other adults they should go.
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u/J-Dirte Nebraska Cornhuskers Apr 08 '26
I don’t think you need an age limit, just 5 years of eligibility from you enroll in college.
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u/marionsunshine Iowa Hawkeyes • Big Ten Apr 08 '26
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but that is the rule, right?
Once you enroll, you get 5 years to compete in 4. Then they added the list of clauses and exemptions.
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u/googleblackguy Michigan Wolverines • Rose Bowl Apr 08 '26
If I'm a student and part of my tuition goes to sports, I should be allowed to play sports, no matter my age.
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u/memtiger Auburn Tigers • Memphis Tigers Apr 09 '26
You can....rec/club sports.
Your tuition doesn't entitled you to play in a specific extracurricular league.
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u/maxman1313 Virginia Tech • North Carolina Apr 08 '26
I agree.
I personally would go with, 5 years of eligibility on an active roster. No redshirts, no waivers.
1 free transfer no questions asked.
Additional free transfers can be allowed if an HC or coordinator leaves.
All other transfers require players to sit out one year.
Still gives players freedom of movement, but it becomes costly for boosters/NIL to pay for transfers to have to sit out a year.
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u/111victories Apr 08 '26
The issue with this is you’re gonna get those who do missions overseas right after high school or military members who go back to school - will the NCAA exclude them? I realize there’s no right answer, and obviously just like an age cutoff someone always gets screwed, but just interesting to note.
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u/GROWLER_FULL Michigan Wolverines Apr 08 '26
It’s mentioned in the article
“No waiver requests, redshirts or exceptions will be permitted, except for a small group of outliers (those on maternity leave, military service or religious missions).”
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u/Icy_Delay_7274 Georgia Bulldogs • SMU Mustangs Apr 08 '26
There is a right answer, and it’s not making exceptions for Mormonism
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u/voltron818 Oklahoma Sooners • /r/CFB Contributor Apr 08 '26
They should be excluded. There’s just no reason for someone who’s 25+ to be competing against 19 and 20 year olds.
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u/Competitive_Feed_402 Oklahoma • Minnesota Apr 08 '26
What about 36 year olds? Asking for a friend.
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u/MediumStrange Cincinnati • Michigan Apr 08 '26
Imma be honest, I care more about a random person that gets to fulfill their dream of playing d3 football after being overseas than I do about a quarterback playing at 25. At the end of the day this is college sports and it doesn't actually matter that much, I think the fairest standard is 5 years after enrollment, no exceptions. That allows people to play college sports even if they took a break for whatever reason, while still making sure people aren't staying forever.
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u/ExpressFan7426 Texas Tech Red Raiders Apr 08 '26
This is the correct approach! Why is that so complicated? The rest of us deal with choices like that all the time.
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u/A638B Notre Dame Fighting Irish Apr 08 '26
At a certain point, you have to say no loopholes.
Age cutoff is the fairest standard. I’d even get rid of the high school aspect, just 5 years of eligibility with a maximum age of 23 on September 1 of the season.
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u/randomguy84321 Ohio State • Ohio Northern Apr 08 '26
I dont see any issues with 5 years of eligibility no redshirt or waivers, from when you first enroll in college
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u/Commercial-East4069 Ohio State Buckeyes Apr 08 '26
If a 49 year old didn’t go to college or play professionally, they should still have eligibility.
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u/CentralFloridaRays Clemson Tigers Apr 08 '26
Why is playing ncaa sanctioned sports considered some sort of human right?
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u/MediumStrange Cincinnati • Michigan Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
this might be the first time I agree with a Ohio state fan. People are down voting anyone who pokes holes in this flawed scheme. Basing it on years of enrollment would be so much smarter, everybody should have the chance to play, not just 20 years olds
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u/shirt_bro Texas A&M Aggies Apr 08 '26
Mormons aside, there should definitely be a carve out for military service
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u/SFWzasmith Michigan Wolverines • St. Thomas Tommies Apr 08 '26
Courts won’t let this stand. The NCAA had a real long head start on fixing these problems and chose not to.
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u/evemeatay Apr 08 '26
The NCAA actively created all these problems in the first place and now has zero ability to put the genie back in the bottle now that the kids they were taking advantage of have a voice.
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u/confetti_shrapnel Minnesota Golden Gophers Apr 08 '26
I don't think you all understand how much this would completely disrupt the hockey scene. It'd be for the better. But holy shit this would be wild for college hockey.
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u/ackackakbar Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Apr 08 '26
Will this encourage players to not heal from injuries/surgery properly (try to rush back)?
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u/Fathoms_Deep_1 UCF Knights • Ohio State Buckeyes Apr 08 '26
They can try to implement it, but I’m willing to bet $100 that some 26 year old will sue, and the NCAA will lose like they always do
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u/HippiesBeGoneInc Apr 08 '26
Should be 5 years or 4 full seasons. Every extra year you give these guys is one year taken away from somebody else.
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u/KingGizzle Air Force • Northwestern Apr 08 '26
If they made it 6 years and had a process for graduate students to participate I could potentially get behind it. It solves a lot of problems with parents holding their kids back in grade school to gain a physical advantage later.
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u/Far_Data1386 Clemson • North Central (IL) Apr 08 '26
I wrestled D3 with a few guys who went to college later, so this means they wouldn't have been able to join the team?
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u/jbokwxguy Oklahoma Sooners • USA Eagles Apr 08 '26
Yeah there’s no way this would survive courts because of age discrimination.
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u/MediumStrange Cincinnati • Michigan Apr 08 '26
This rule is asinine, people who desire to go to college and play later in life should always be able to. At the end of the day this is college sports, it's not that serious and exists yo benefit it's students. I care so much more about older players fuffilling their dreams to play than I do about the fact that some teams have super seniors.
Basing the rule off of years since enrollment instead of age would be much fairier for everyone, and less likely to get struck down in court. Which this absolutely would since age is a protected class.
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u/ChoderBoi Illinois Fighting Illini Apr 08 '26
Trinidad Chambliss really about to be the straw that broke the camel's back