Overview
- The Division I Cabinet approved the age-based model on June 23 that gives athletes up to five seasons of competition within five years and starts the clock at initial full-time enrollment or the academic year after an athlete turns 19.
- The policy removes routine redshirts and narrows waiver eligibility to only pregnancy, active-duty military service, and religious missions, aiming to reduce discretionary extensions and litigation.
- Players who finished their four seasons by the end of the 2025–26 year are not automatically grandfathered in and several of those former athletes filed lawsuits seeking a fifth season of play.
- The NCAA and major-conference commissioners have told courts that granting extra seasons now would create roster instability, and a judge has set a near-term deadline to issue a written ruling on preliminary-injunction requests.
- Schools and coaches are already planning under the new rules, current athletes with eligibility after 2025–26 may choose the old or new model, recruits enrolling in fall 2027 will be fully subject to the age-based framework, and the change could reshape recruiting, international pipelines, and roster planning.