NCAA Cabinet Unanimously Approves Five-Year, Age-Based Eligibility Model

The NCAA Division I Cabinet unanimously approved a new five-year, age-based eligibility model on Tuesday, delivering one of the most significant structural changes to college sports in recent memory. The decision marks a departure from the traditional redshirt framework that has governed roster construction for decades.

Under the new model, commonly referred to as '5-in-5,' all Division I athletes will receive a fixed, five-year window in which to complete up to five seasons of eligibility. The clock begins once a player enrolls full-time in college or at the start of the academic year following their 19th birthday. Because the window is age- and enrollment-based rather than tied to seasons played, the traditional redshirt year — long used to preserve a season of eligibility — is effectively eliminated.

Exceptions, Exclusions, and Legal Exposure

The rule carries narrow exceptions. Extensions to the five-year timeline will be permitted only for military service or mission trips; other common extensions, including many medical waivers, are not included in the plan. Schools such as UNC are expected to feel the impact of the reduction in available medical waivers, though the overall framework is seen as offering certain roster-management benefits.

Critically, the rule does not grandfather in athletes who exhausted their eligibility during the current year. That carve-out is expected to generate legal challenges almost immediately, with lawsuits from graduated seniors seeking to return to competition anticipated in the coming days. The litigation could seek to restore eligibility for players who would have qualified under the new model had it been in place sooner.

Although the cabinet vote took place Tuesday, formal finalization of the rule was not expected until Wednesday. The NCAA has framed the move as an effort to bring consistency to a college sports landscape that has been reshaped repeatedly in recent years by court rulings, name-image-and-likeness deals, and the transfer portal. Programs across the country — from Texas and LSU to NC State and Kentucky — are already assessing how the new framework will affect their rosters going forward.