A 5-year clock and fewer waivers: The NCAA’s new bet on roster stability

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The NCAA on Tuesday announced what it called a sweeping change to eligibility rules for Division I athletes. The goal is to reduce some of the chaosthat has surrounded college sports since athletes won the right to earn money, transfer without penalty and forced the industry to start sharing millions of dollars in revenue with players. Here is what to know:

For years, the NCAA allowed athletes five years to complete four years of competition. It now will allow five seasons of competition over a five-year period that begins with an athlete's full-time enrollment or the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever occurs first.

The move will all but eliminate waivers for injuries or redshirt years for extended eligibility except for religious missions, pregnancy or active-duty military service. Notably, the NCAA said the change “will align athletics eligibility with enrollment and graduation patterns for the general student population” rather than carving out wildly different scenarios for athletes.

College coaches have complained that their rosters are in constant flux because athletes are able to transfer without the old penalty of having to sit out a year before playing at their new school. By limiting the overall timeframe to five years, the hope is to limit at some of the more casual transfers and provide some stability. The NCAA also wanted to have a simple rule in place after a series of court fights with athletes seeking to extend their college careers, in some cases to cash in via revenue sharing and name, image and likeness deals. Legal challenges to the new rules are certainly possible.

The new eligibility model will affect all athletes who enroll in 2027-28. Currently enrolled athletes with eligibility after the 2025-26 academic year, and those who are incoming freshmen this fall, can apply the age-based model or continue under previous eligibility rules.

Schools with athletes who may be eligible for hardship waivers or extensions of eligibility under current rules must submit requests to the NCAA by July 31.

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