• The NCAA’s new five-for-five eligibility rule might eventually deter lawsuits from student-athletes wishing to continue their careers past their expiration date, but that’s not happening yet, per Sportico’s Michael McCann. Filip Borovicanin et al. v. NCAA maintains the NCAA has breached obligations owed to the athletes centered on assurances of fundamental fairness, good faith and consistency, with the basic idea that denying eligibility to the class of 2022—athletes who “spent four years competing against athletes who received an extra year through COVID-era waivers”—is unwarranted and unjustified. Essentially, the same lawsuit could play out in different courts all across the country, over and over again (see below). If that sounds familiar, it’s what happened after Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia secured an injunction back in December 2024 to play a sixth season. “In some instances the athletes are suing because a coach or athletic director has assured them of a roster spot if they can obtain a court order to play. That court order would be against the NCAA, the school’s member association. In other words, colleges agree to play by NCAA rules but some also encourage athletes to challenge those rules in court for the school’s benefit.” More. (link) 
• Ohio judge Christopher Wagner has granted a temporary injunction to 15 Division I college basketball players whose eligibility expired this past season, permitting them the chance to return for another year after arguing the NCAA unfairly excluded them from its new age-based eligibility rule. Per The Athletic’s Ralph Russo and Justin Williams, the injunction grants student-athletes represented in this case the opportunity to enter the transfer portal, despite the specified window closing in mid-April. It remains unclear whether any have roster spots waiting for them at the DI level, with most schools having assembled their teams and set their budgets for 2026-27. The NCAA issued a statement in response to the Borovicanin v. NCAA injunction that reads in part: “The court's decision today is wrong, and we will immediately seek all avenues for reversal, including a stay of the court's order pending appeal. … The effect of this ruling will be to take away valuable participation opportunities from student-athletes who are eligible to compete, in favor of those who have already received exactly the number of seasons of competition they expected. … It is now apparent that Congress must act swiftly to restore stability, uniformity, and fair competition in college athletics.” (link, link) 
• The Division I Board of Directors reviewed a new tampering framework at their June meeting that would permit "contactable" athletes and their agents to communicate with schools before the portal opens, per Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, who notes the Board is now seeking member feedback on the concept. Additionally, the group “(1) adjusted language on tampering to make it more of a presumption of guilt; (2) reaffirmed that athletes are held accountable in tampering cases and (3) rejected a memo from the Big Ten for a moratorium on tampering.” Full report. (link, link) 
• A lawsuit filed in Cabell (WV) Circuit Court by 12 Marshall student-athletes claims the NCAA’s recent decision to exclude their 2022 high-school graduating class from the new five-for-five eligibility rule, which would have allowed for five full seasons of competition, “violates the covenant of good faith and fair dealing” and the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act. Per Legal Newsline’s Chris Dickerson, the group is seeking immediate injunctive relief so they can play for the Thundering Herd during the 2026-27 academic year and sign scholarship, revenue-sharing and NIL agreements. The student-athletes argue they remain within five years of their initial college enrollment and should be treated like other classes who will benefit from five full seasons. The group seeks declaratory judgments that the NCAA’s exclusion of their class from the five-season rule breaches the covenant of good faith and fair dealing or, alternatively, that the NCAA is stopped from denying them that opportunity. They are represented by Stephen New of Stephen New & Associates and by Dusty Gwinn of Akers Gwinn, while the case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Sean K. Hammers. More. (link)  
• NCAA President Charlie Baker indicated that Division I administrators are actively discussing strategies to regionalize non-football scheduling to alleviate the logistical burdens created by national conference realignment, according to Awful Announcing's Drew Lerner. During an appearance on CBS’ Face The Nation, Baker explicitly denied that the scheduling pivot represents a precursor to a breakaway football league that would supersede the association's authority. Baker outlined the mathematical disparity between the gridiron and the rest of the college athletics portfolio that necessitates a bifurcated operational model: "Most of the conversation I’ve heard among schools, at least at the Division I level, is whether they should try and figure out some way to create a more regional approach to sports other than football. Because football is, depending upon the conference, the league, and the program, somewhere between 11 and 14 games in a season, whereas you have many other sports, men’s and women’s sports, where you play, literally, 30, 40, 50, 60 games. ... A lot of these other sports, you’re playing midweek, you’re playing the weekends, and those sports, the travel question becomes a much bigger challenge and a bigger issue than it is for just football.” (link)  Commissioner Comment - These discussions mirror conversations taking place nationally as conferences seek to balance competitive opportunities with the travel demands placed upon student-athletes. 
• More from Baker’s appearance on Face the Nation, here’s what you need to know… 
  • On the magnitude of the revenue-sharing era: "If you think about the 100 years plus of the NCAA, the three biggest things that have happened, in my view, were the creation of it, almost a little over 100 years ago, the Title IX, which completely changed the playing field with respect to women's sports, and this, which was the first time you could have actual revenue sharing ... You're talking about $1B potentially going out to student-athletes every year. It's going to be challenging." 
  • Defending the financial viability of Olympic sports: "The idea that sports are being cut only tells half the story, because at the same time certain sports may be being cut, other sports are being introduced. ... No one ever writes about or talks about or promotes the sports that get added. They only talk about … the sports that get cut." 
  • Generating new revenue to offset legal settlements: "I'd also point out we've raised $300M in new revenue since I got this job, and a big piece of it is going to pay off some of the legal settlements that I inherited when I got the job … which means schools don't have to pay those, which is a good thing." 
  • On streamlining NCAA governance and committees: "We got rid of about 80 committees. We had a lot of committees that had 50 people on them, they now have about 20. We added a lot more student-athletes to our committees, all about trying to create a process that can move more quickly." 
  • Aligning the transgender athlete policy for 500K athletes (fewer than 10 of whom are openly transgender) with federal standards: "I had said to folks, Democrats and Republicans in Washington, after I got this job, that we needed some sort of clarity around what the national standard for this would be, and we adopted and comply with the standard that was put forth by the Trump administration. ... Our national standard is going to be what we expect our schools to use with respect to eligibility issues for college sports." (link) 
• Cal State Fullerton's AD search is nearly complete, according to CollegeAD, which reports the “Titans are holding final interviews this week, with three candidates participating in in-person interviews. It's our understanding that all three candidates have strong California ties, either having worked in the state or being California natives. Additionally, all three candidates have Power Four backgrounds, including one candidate who is currently working at the P4 level.” (link); Extra Points purveyor Matt Brown: “As far as news goes, streets are telling me the Fullerton AD search is down to three people: no current ADs, but current admins at a MWC and Big 12 school, as well as a former B12 admin.” (link) 
• On the significance of the Big 12 being the first Power 4 league to have all its members sign the CSC’s Participation Agreement: “[Signing] shows that all of our schools share the same vision and mission for the go-forward, and we want rules, and we want rules enforced. … The CSC is a startup. Like any startup, you're going to have challenges, and then you have to address those challenges. I think we've been very fluid throughout the last six months in addressing some of those challenges. I think on a go-forward basis, as we think about year two, we're going to have to probably make some more meaningful adjustments. I'm willing to roll up my sleeves and partner with my other P4 commissioners in order to get to the right place.” (link) 
• U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Mark Warner (D-VA) evaluated the Protect College Sports Act, with both acknowledging the difficulty of establishing a universal framework. A spokesperson confirmed Warner is currently reviewing the bill to ensure it balances industry stability with protections for student-athletes and Olympic sports. Meanwhile, Kaine highlighted the legislative challenges during a campus visit to Eastern Mennonite (DIII) in Harrisonburg, explaining that any federal mandate must successfully accommodate DI, DII and DIII institutions alongside revenue and non-revenue programs. Kaine also expressed doubt regarding the immediate timeline for federal intervention to preempt state-level NIL laws: "I think there are a lot of twists and turns as to whether this becomes law. My gut tells me that while you'll probably have some significant hearings and work on it, we're getting near the end of this Congress. I have a feeling they will probably work on it, and it will not be a subject of final passage in this Congress. But there's a lot of churn and I think we are really at the start of this discussion." (link) 
• Colorado State FAR & Political Science professor Kyle Saunders provides a targeting memo evaluating the Senate vote count for the Protect College Sports Act, determining that the bill's legislative survival hinges on a coalition of 18 Democrats representing states with high college athletics revenue. Saunders maps the financial pressure driving the standoff between the 30 conferences supporting the legislation and the SEC and Big Ten, which formally oppose the bill's media-pooling provisions and calculates that passing the bill requires maintaining the support of Democrats in states like Virginia—where universities generate $453M in athletic revenue—and Arizona ($309M) to secure the 60 votes necessary for cloture. He advises proponents to prioritize the USOPC's requested protections for Olympic sports while strictly avoiding amendments that would alienate the progressive labor wing of the Democratic caucus. Saunders on how the amendment process threatens the bill's bipartisan viability: "The cheapest sixty is the most boring one: change almost nothing, pay the USOPC, politely decline the NCAA’s ask seven, protect pooling, and let eighteen Democrats’ home-state athletic directors do the whipping that [Senator John] Thune’s office can’t. Every flashy amendment fight raises the temperature, and temperature is the kill variable." Lots more. (link) 
• The NCAA selected Wichita, Kan., to serve as a co-host alongside Dayton, Ohio, for the newly expanded Opening Round of the 2027 and 2028 Division I Men's Basketball Championships. Both cities will host three games daily on the Tuesday and Wednesday following Selection Sunday to accommodate the expanded 76-team bracket format approved in May. The updated Opening Round features the 12 lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers paired against each other (seeds 65 through 76), while the 12 lowest-seeded at-large teams will face-off internally, though administrators may adjust matchups along the same seed line to optimize travel logistics. The Division I Men's Basketball Committee simultaneously approved a new baseline of 55 for the Wins Above Bubble (WAB) metric—adjusted from the previous baseline of 45—to account for the additional at-large bids, while removing the rule that previously barred host schools from competing at their own venues. (link) 

   IN CLOSING   

As college athletics continues to navigate historic change, progress will not be measured by eliminating every challenge before us. It will be measured by our willingness to remain engaged, collaborate across conferences and continue making decisions that place student-athletes at the center of every conversation. The path forward may not always be simple, but it is one worth leading with purpose, collaboration and an unwavering commitment to our student-athletes.
 

Three thoughts to close: 

1. Leadership is providing clarity when others see uncertainty. 

2. The future belongs to those willing to build it before everyone else sees it. 

3. Stability is not found in the absence of change. It is found in the consistency of purpose. 

Have a great week ahead. 

Dan