• Hero Sports’ Sam Herder notes the DI Membership Committee met again last week and continued to discuss the possible creation of an autonomy subdivision. From the committee’s update: “The NCAA Division I Membership Committee continued to discuss the first of two referrals from the NCAA Division I Decision-Making Working Group. Specifically, as part of its exploration of the possible creation of an autonomy subdivision and defining autonomy status such that criteria are established, the committee reviewed and discussed data from the 2023-24 NCAA Financial Reporting System, 2024-25 Health and Safety Survey and the 2025-26 Sport Sponsorship and Demographics Database. The committee reviewed subdivision-specific data across key financial measures including institutional investment in athletics, institutional allocations in athletics, athletics self-sufficiency and reliance on football. The committee identified additional information to review at a future meeting, including the same datasets excluding football, a review of minimum and maximum conference-specific averages across key financial measures, the examination of expenses other than salaries and benefits and data on changes to institution and conference sports sponsorship.” (link) 
• NCAA President Charlie Baker is pushing the DI Cabinet to pass emergency legislation by mid-May to implement the proposed "five-in-five" eligibility standard. According to Sports Illustrated's Bryan Fischer, the expedited timeline aims to curb the onslaught of eligibility lawsuits from older transfers and former professionals, including high-profile cases involving Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia and Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss.  (link) 
• “I think if you’re serious about being in the pursuit of championships, you’ve gotta get to a $10M roster.” That’s what a high-major men’s basketball AC told The Athletic’s CJ Moore in regard to what it costs to build a winner in the sport these days. And that, apparently, is on the low end according to polling done by the publication with coaches and GM about the cost of doing business. More key takeaways… 
  • The consensus on the average roster comes in at $10-12M, with one GM estimating most schools have added at least $2M to their expected roster cost compared to last year. The top-end spenders from last season are mostly staying where they were, but others are playing catch-up, meaning there are more teams spending more money.  
  • Agents have driven up the asking price every year, because they’re aware the schools are operating with more money to spend. One GM ballparked the price of the current market: “The numbers are insane right now.” Borderline starter? “An agent will start at $1.5M;” a definite starter, but not all-conference? “$2.5M;” a player projected to be all-conference? “$3M and above;” a player projected to be an NBA Draft pick? “$3M floor. Basically, it’s 30% of your budget. So if you’ve got $12M, that guy is likely up to $4M.”  
  • As for a position breakdown, the consensus is that centers, especially those with skill, are the most expensive and hardest to find, followed by point guards. According to data published on Tuesday by Evan Miyakawa, the NIL market for Division I players is up 65% from last year, with a 73% increase for players on power-conference teams. More. (link) 
• Women's flag football is experiencing significant growth across the youth and collegiate levels, highlighted by eight club and varsity programs converging at Arizona State for the inaugural Fiesta Bowl Flag Football Classic. The Athletic's Christopher Kamrani points out the sport's expansion is backed by hard data, with USA Football reporting a 283% increase in participation among young girls since 2015 and an estimated 2.5M athletes currently playing at the youth or high school levels. (link) 
• Next month, Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins’ will hear arguments from House plaintiffs’ attorneys motion accusing the College Sports Commission of violating settlement terms by denying NIL deals between third parties and student-athletes, per Ross Dellenger, who writing for On3, observes Cousins' choice in the matter is simple. Here’s what you need to know… 
  • Grant the motion, which would permit millions of dollars in third-party deals to freely pass through the system without scrutiny, thereby informally expanding the cap, or deny the motion, which would lead to the rejection of millions of dollars in third-party deals, thereby leading to hundreds of student-athletes being deemed ineligible, or having to return compensation already paid to them (depending on the result of individual arbitration cases). 
  • According to Dellenger, some administrators are effectively “rooting” for the plaintiffs' attorneys to win because they’re exhausted with the facade and believe an uncapped market is inevitable. ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips isn’t among that group and is ready to “vigorously and aggressively defend” the CSC. “We are confident that the CSC’s enforcement of this issue is consistent with the settlement. We are reviewing associated deals where the entities are engaging in recruiting athletes – activities clearly covered by the settlement. Many of the MMR entities are engaging in activities that subject them to a higher level of scrutiny.” 
  • CSC CEO Bryan Seeley described the plaintiff’s’ motion as “a clear effort to avoid the arbitration process that plaintiff attorney agreed to. … This motion was filed (before) an arbitration in which the CSC was going to prove conclusively that a university’s multimedia rights partner was an associated entity based on actual facts and evidence.” More. (link)  
• The Pac-12 will refrain from enforcing its men’s basketball nonconference scheduling quality standards for at least the 2026-27 campaign, per The Oregonian’s James Crepea. The standards, which were originally approved back in May 2019, mandate a team’s opponents have a collective five-year average NET ranking of at least 175, while road games against teams with a five-year average NET of 200 or over, games against non-Division I teams and road “buy” games, aren’t permitted. The Pac-12, which officially launches on July 1, will play a 16-game league schedule, leaving each of its nine basketball schools with 16 nonconference games to schedule independently. Seidenberger said the conference may limit the number of non-Division I games its teams are permitted to play. (link) 
• Counsel for the House v. NCAA plaintiff class has filed a motion to restrict the regulatory jurisdiction of the College Sports Commission regarding NIL agreements involving university multimedia rights partners. Following a CSC memo classifying MMRs as "associated entities" subject to NIL Go review, the plaintiffs argued the commission is overstepping its intended authority during a March 12 meeting with power conference representatives. While the CSC maintains the heightened scrutiny is appropriate when MMRs facilitate transactions that benefit specific schools, the House class contends the label was exclusively designed to regulate boosters and NIL collectives. Key additional notes… 
  • Sportico’s Daniel Libit points out the dispute emerges as the broader settlement faces objector challenges before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and notes the plaintiffs have requested for a special master to intervene: "The House class is now seeking an order from a special master declaring that MMR companies and third-party sponsors are not associated entities and to block what they describe as the CSC’s attempt to 'improperly meddle in NIL agreements' that should be outside their purview." (link) 
  • Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger adds that "plaintiff attorneys in the House case have filed a motion asking the magistrate judge to declare that school multi-media rights partners be exempt from the CSC’s more rigorous NIL enforcement, as well as third-party brands, such as apparel companies. This move could open the door for schools – already using MMR partners to redirect millions to rosters – to avoid submitting many of those deals through the NIL Go clearinghouse. The attorneys do offer a caveat: This would apply to MMR partners ‘unless the party’ paying for the athlete’s NIL is deemed an associated entity, which could complicate the interpretation of any change.” (link) 
  • The College Sports Commission responds with a statement: "The CSC's application of the rules on associated entities is straightforward and fact-based. Those rules, which plaintiffs' counsel agreed to, clearly state that entities directed by schools to assist in recruiting are associated entities. Under the settlement, arbitration is the proper forum to challenge the CSC's application of these rules. This motion was filed to evade an imminent arbitration in which the CSC will prove, based on evidence, that a school's multimedia rights partner is an associated entity." CSC CEO Bryan Seeley adds to Yahoo’s Ross Dellenger: “This is designed to try to get that issue away from the arbitrator and put it in front of the federal court with no facts attached to it. So it's a theoretical discussion that has no grounding in what is actually happening on campus pursuant to the settlement. … NCAA rules, which class counsel agreed to, say that an entity directed by a school to assist in the recruiting retention of student-athletes is associated. A lot of multimedia rights partners are being directed by the school as part of recruitment and retention efforts." (link, link) 
• President Trump’s Saving College Sports executive order might not seem impactful, but it could accelerate change if it were to pull federal money from a school to scare others into compliance, per Sportico’s Michael McCann. The directing of federal agencies to assess NIL deals sounds like something that could take many months or years to play out before any school gets into trouble, but what’s to stop Trump from hitting the fast-forward button and having the Department of Justice and Department of Education make an example of an institution that appears to be using NIL as pay-for-play? The potentiality of Trump directing the federal government to withhold federal money over objections to its conduct is not an abstract idea or quixotic hypothetical. He’s done it, repeatedly, since the start of his second term. If Trump decides to act, he likely wouldn’t make an example of a popular state university from an area where he draws support. More. (link)  
• President Donald Trump again yesterday addressed some challenges facing college athletics: “It's a very precarious position the courts have left us in. And now it's a total and complete mess. But we're going to get it fixed up and we've got fantastic people doing it. So we need now Congress to act to clear up the confusion created by the courts and institute permanent reforms to protect college sports at every level, especially some sports. … 75% of Olympians competing for Team USA played as college athletes. If we don't straighten this out, we're not going to have much of an Olympic team because you have so many of these sports, especially certain sports where it's like the minor leagues, call it the major leagues, whatever you want. But we've trained unbelievable athletes to go in and win the gold medal. Without college sports and without your ability to go into college sports and compete and learn how to play and get better, we're not going to have much of an Olympic team anymore.” (link) 
• U.S. District Judge Todd Robinson has approved a $300K damage settlement to be split among 798 former female San Diego State student-athletes after they sued the school and accused it of violating Title IX, per USA Today’s Brent Schrotenboer. Included in settlement terms that were reached last year is $1.3M to be paid to the plaintiffs’ attorneys who brought the class-action suit on behalf of the women. While the compensation amount might not seem like much, according to plaintiffs’ attorney Arthur Bryant, the outcome represents something larger. “These women have made history. This is the first case ever in which a school is going to pay damages to women athletes for depriving them of equal athletic financial aid. It is definitely not going to be the last. And SDSU is going to comply with Title IX.” Schrotenboer adds: “Previous Title IX lawsuits often have sought injunctive relief from the courts, but monetary damages for athletes in such cases is a new frontier, as the parties acknowledged in their joint motion to approve the settlement. San Diego State noted in the final settlement that the ‘damages’ it agreed to pay are ‘non-precedential,’ meaning they will not be a precedent to be followed in future cases.” More. (link)  

   QUOTE OF THE DAY   

“All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me…  You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”  Credited to Walt Disney 

As championships continue across The Big West this week, I am reminded how special this time of year truly is. Every serve, every rally, every point, and every swing represents months—sometimes years—of preparation and commitment. 

Championship season is where resilience shows itself, where teamwork is tested, and where memories are created that last long after the final point is played. 

To our student-athletes competing this week: compete boldly, trust your preparation, and embrace the moment. Opportunities like this are earned—and you have earned the right to be here. 

And as the echoes of “Enter Sandman” fade and championship trophies are raised, one thing remains constant—The Big West continues to show what it means to compete with purpose, pride, and unity. 

Have a great week—and enjoy every championship moment. 

Dan