Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Perhaps but then it could force the NFL to pony up and start it's own minor league. Because an EO that MANDATES graduate might could spoil the student-athlete scholarship charade. And if they are now an employee and not on actual scholarship wouldn't they have to pay for their "Education" then? At an employee discount of course

 BTW Happy Easter everyone

Curious on how everyone feels about an NFL minor league?  Would it make CFB better, or worse?  

The NCAA is reportedly exploring a significant change to its eligibility rule, per Yahoo Sports‘ Ross Dellenger. The new rule would create an age-based standard.

Athletes would now have five years of eligibility once they turn 19 years old or after their high school graduation. There would be no redshirt or waivers in that case.

As Dellenger points out, there are very few exceptions that will be permitted under that new rule. Those include maternity leave, military service, or religious missions.

“Members of the NCAA Division I Cabinet are set to review the proposal at their meeting next week,” Dellenger wrote. “While a timeline for approval remains unclear — it is likely weeks or months away — the legislation is considered an urgent matter with potential for implementation as soon as this coming academic year (fall 2026).

“Any implementation is expected to be phased in as is the case with most new NCAA policy. For instance, leaders will take strides to avoid adversely impacting any current athlete’s long-term eligibility under existing rules. What’s unclear is if those players completing or having completed their final, fourth season of eligibility will regain a fifth season if they fall within the new policy’s five-year window.”

This aligns with the recent executive order signed by President Donald Trump. The order encompasses transfer movement, player eligibility, funding requirements for women and Olympic sports and reins in NIL collectives.

The order directs the NCAA to create rules that mandate college athletes can play for “no more than a five-year period.” The rule changes are scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1.

Executive orders can be legally challenged. Courts have struck down several of Trump’s orders in recent months. Trump previously predicted that the order would be challenged in the courts. A key sticking point will be whether the president has legal authority over NCAA eligibility rules.

But if the NCAA explores this new rule, it’s virtually similar to what was proposed by President Trump. The release of the executive order comes a month after Trump gathered college sports leaders at the White House for a roundtable. The group discussed pushing forward the SCORE Act and similar Congressional legislation, but the president was emphatic that an executive order would also be drafted.

NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a statement that the executive order is “a significant step forward, and we appreciate the Administration’s interest and attention to these issues.” How this unfolds moving forward still remains to be seen.

As it stands now, athletes have five years to complete four years of varsity action in their respective sport. That includes a redshirt year, which, for example, in football allows you to play up to four games in a year while preserving that year to redshirt.

Another sport, like NCAA wrestling, also allows a true freshman to compete in five separate dates of varsity action but keep that year of eligibility. The issue for many regarding eligibility is the retroactive allowance of medical redshirts years after a year has been completed. Couple that with the transfer portal, and many sports showcase sixth and even seventh-year seniors.

How the NCAA will propose this new five-year rule remains to be seen. But it could be the concrete fix college sports need in terms of balancing out eligibility for athletes.

I'd say I'm shocked that Wisconsin did this before Louisiana, but the truth is I suspect Louisiana's state legislature has been doing this under the table for a while now.  

Though I can't say for sure.  Shady, under-the-table corrupt politics is more Illinois' thing.  In Louisiana, we generally do our corruption out in the open, brag about it, and then throw a parade and build a statue for whoever won the Corruption Olympics and place it on the capitol lawn.  

$14.6 spread out like that for facilities ain't gonna do much

as usual - unfortunately

unfortunately, many voters are gonna be up in arms

The NCAA announced tampering violations against head coach Kirk Ferentz, assistant coach Jon Budmayr, and the Iowa Football program on Tuesday.

Per the release, Iowa was in heavy contact with a student-athlete who was enrolled at another NCAA school at the time and who had not yet entered the NCAA Transfer Portal. This occurred prior to the 2023 season. Budmayr also communicated with the parent of the student-athlete prior to his entry into the Portal. 13 different phone calls and two text messages were stated in the release.

Budmayr then set up a phone call between the student-athlete and Ferentz, who assured him that he would be welcomed to their program. Just days later, the player entered the Portal and quickly committed to Iowa.

“Under current NCAA rules, when a student-athlete transfers to a school that engaged in tampering, the student-athlete becomes ineligible pending reinstatement,” the release read. The student-athlete participated in five games during the 2023 season, putting Iowa in hot water.

Iowa will have four wins vacated from 2023 season due to violations
Because of this, the Hawkeyes will vacate four wins from the season (the student-athlete competed in five games total). Kirk Ferentz‘s official win-loss record dips to 209-128, but he still remains the winningest head coach in Big Ten history. He has served as Iowa‘s head coach since 1999.

Per the release, Iowa did not agree with vacating wins from the 2023 season. They reportedly stated that the action is ‘outdated’. However, the panel agreed with the decision, and it will stand. The wins for Iowa that will be vacated came against Utah State, Iowa State, Western Michigan, and Michigan State.

“When respected individuals identify their mistakes and take responsibility for them, it sets the standard for appropriate behavior within their programs, universities and, more importantly, across the broader industry,” the panel stated. “The panel appreciates the actions taken by Iowa and Ferentz to publicly address his and his staff member’s conduct.”

“Changes to historical practice — particularly around what violations trigger student-athlete ineligibility and how ineligible competition is penalized — should be made by more traditional governance committees through the governance and legislative process. The COI is open to reevaluating the violations that trigger ineligibility or how ineligible competition should be penalized, but it would be inappropriate to do so in the context of a single infractions case and outside of the legislative process.”

I was actually thinking that out of all the shenanigans that go on with CFB and the transfer portal, only nice guys like Kirk Ferentz would get busted for some stupid shit like this. Not because they broke the rules, but because they didn’t know how to do it legally. Like the rest of the SEC and Big Ten.