With an injunction hearing coming up Wednesday, the NCAA has filed a response in an eligibility lawsuit regarding the age-based eligibility model. It also includes an affidavit from the commissioners of the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, Big 12, Pac-12 and Big East conferences.
The suit was filed in Ohio after the NCAA unanimously approved the age-based eligibility model. Xavier’s Filip Borovicanin and Cincinnati’s MJ Collins are among the 15 athletes listed as plaintiffs. A judge denied a request for a temporary restraining order, but set a hearing for a preliminary injunction for July 1.
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Ahead of the hearing, the NCAA filed its response, and the conference commissioners defended the decision not to “grandfather” athletes who would have another year under the age-based model. They cited the need to protect incoming athletes and their roster spots in their decision.
“The downstream effects of granting an additional year of eligibility would, without question, harm college sports across the country,” the affidavit reads, in part. “If a court were to allow Plaintiffs and similarly situated student-athletes to compete during the 2026-27 academic year, immediate and significant uncertainty in the collegiate athletic landscape necessarily follows.
The suit was filed in Ohio after the NCAA unanimously approved the age-based eligibility model. Xavier’s Filip Borovicanin and Cincinnati’s MJ Collins are among the 15 athletes listed as plaintiffs. A judge denied a request for a temporary restraining order, but set a hearing for a preliminary injunction for July 1.
[ $19.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage ]
Ahead of the hearing, the NCAA filed its response, and the conference commissioners defended the decision not to “grandfather” athletes who would have another year under the age-based model. They cited the need to protect incoming athletes and their roster spots in their decision.
“The downstream effects of granting an additional year of eligibility would, without question, harm college sports across the country,” the affidavit reads, in part. “If a court were to allow Plaintiffs and similarly situated student-athletes to compete during the 2026-27 academic year, immediate and significant uncertainty in the collegiate athletic landscape necessarily follows.
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