The NCAA Division I Cabinet voted unanimously to approve a new five-year, age-based eligibility model, according to ESPN. The decision marks one of the more significant structural changes to college athletics eligibility in years.
The move comes as the NCAA has struggled to maintain consistent rules around player eligibility after a series of legal challenges and the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Extra eligibility years granted during the pandemic created roster crowding and complications that coaches and administrators have complained about for several seasons.
The new model shifts eligibility from being tied strictly to seasons played to being based on age, which officials say will bring more predictability to the system. The cabinet approved the measure without a single dissenting vote.
ESPN described the vote as a win for the NCAA as it works to stabilize a college sports landscape that has been upended by name, image and likeness rules, the transfer portal, and ongoing litigation.
Details about how the age-based thresholds will be set and how current players will be affected by the transition were not immediately available.
