United States District Judge Charlotte Sweeney ruled that all high school Class of 2022 athletes who exhausted their fourth season of college eligibility this past spring are now eligible for a fifth season in 2026-27. As a result of the blanket waiver, which is expected to be appealed, college football programs are scrambling to raise even more NIL money for players who were not supposed to come back.
If that was not already enough pressure, fall camps are already underway.
These college football programs have the opportunity to add more players to their roster. They won’t be cheap.
A federal court granted a blanket waiver for eligibility.
The NCAA adopted the “age-based eligibility model” for Division I at the end of June. It grants every Division I athlete up to five years of eligibility if they enroll in college no later than the academic year after their 19th birthday.
More simply put, every athlete will get an extra year of eligibility in lieu of the traditional redshirts, medical hardship waivers and sport-specific extensions. They have a continuous five-year window to play up to five seasons.
Originally, this rule was only going to apply to every athlete who enrolled in college in fall 2027. That is no longer the case.
Judge Charlotte Sweeney of the U.S. District Court of Colorado granted a class-wide preliminary injunction on Friday. It requires the NCAA to declare all high school Class of 2022 athletes eligible in 2027. Any athlete who exhausted his or her fourth season of eligibility at the conclusion of the 2026 spring sports season are effectively grandfathered into the “age-based eligibility model.” They are now allowed to come back for a fifth year.
“All persons in the United States who began to play in collegiate sports in the 2022-2023 season, competed in NCAA Division I sports, and completed four years of eligibility as defined by the NCAA’s prior rules by the conclusion of the 2025-2026 season, and are therefore barred from playing a fifth season due to the NCAA’s adoption and immediate implementation of the Five-Year Eligibility Rule.”
The NCAA is prepared to fight against the ruling. The Protect College Sports Act could also shut this down if it gets pushed through Congress.
In the meantime, schools are free to add any athletes within this specific Class of 2022 definition even if it takes them over the NCAA roster limits. Former UCF, Boston College and Florida State quarterback Thomas Castellanos is already looking to come back.
He will not be the only one. Even if it does not happen as much in football, because the season is so close, it will happen in college basketball and college baseball (and to a lesser extent in other sports). The return of athletes who were supposed to be done with their playing careers will cause chaos for roster management. It will also cost more money that may not exist.
College football teams need to raise more NIL money.
The 2026 college football regular season is less than one month away. Teams are going to begin fall camp this upcoming week if they did not already do so. Rosters are already in place. Depth charts, while fluid, are starting to come together.
And now, because of the court ruling, these programs are able to add or re-add players who were not supposed to come back. That will cost money they do not have.
Teams set their budget for the fall. They looked at how much money they had available through revenue share and established who is going to get what. That also applies to third-party donations. Every dollar is accounted for.
And now, because of the court ruling, these programs must find a way to pay the players who plan to return for a fifth season. Schools are allowed to pay the athletes in amounts that take them over the current salary cap.
But where does that money come from?
Donors are already tapped out. They, through the schools, need to find even more NIL money to pay the players who were not previously eligible. This latest court ruling creates an even more expensive payroll.