Legal Shift Opens Door for Fifth‑Year Football Players
A Colorado district court judge, Charlotte Sweeney, issued an order that extends a fifth year of eligibility to every athlete who exhausted their four‑year eligibility in the 2022 class, a move that now covers football as well as basketball.
The ruling, stemming from the Wisne v. NCAA case, removes the previous limitation to basketball players and could affect hundreds of Football Bowl Subdivision athletes across the country, reshaping scholarship calculations and roster planning.
College athletic departments are already reaching out to former players and their agents, trying to gauge who might take advantage of the extra year for the 2026 season. Names such as Myles Rowser, Thomas Castellanos, Cazeem Moore and Charles Bediako have publicly expressed interest in returning.
The NCAA is expected to file an appeal to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, a step that could suspend the ruling while the litigation proceeds and leave schools uncertain about scholarship counts for the upcoming campaign.
NFL franchises are monitoring the decision, but most executives say pulling players from NFL training camps would be rare and would depend on individual circumstances, as the prospect of a professional contract often outweighs a return to college.
Because many programs have only a handful of eligible candidates, roster management becomes a delicate exercise, especially with transfer‑portal rules still in flux and the possibility of a hard 105‑player cap forcing late cuts before the season starts.
Legal scholar Sam Ehrlich of Boise State notes that the full injunction has yet to be posted, leaving key details about transfer restrictions and scholarship limits unresolved, a gap that could shape the final outcome of the litigation.
If the injunction ultimately stands, wins achieved with ineligible players could be vacated under NCAA Bylaw 12.9.4.2, adding another layer of risk for teams that have already scheduled non‑conference matchups and built their competitive narratives around those victories.