Federal Judge Grant s Fifth Season of Eligibility to All Class of 2022 NCAA Athletes, Upending Rosters Nationwide
A federal judge in Denver dealt a major blow to the NCAA’s new eligibility rules on Friday, July 31, ruling that every Division I athlete from the high school class of 2022 who exhausted their four seasons of college eligibility this past spring is now eligible to play a fifth season in 2026-27 — a decision that could reshape rosters across college sports and that the NCAA says it will appeal.
What the Judge Ruled
U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney granted a class-wide preliminary injunction covering “all persons in the United States who began to play in collegiate sports in the 2022-2023 season, competed in NCAA Division I sports, and completed four years of eligibility as defined by the NCAA’s prior rules by the conclusion of the 2025-2026 season, and are therefore barred from playing a fifth season,” according to the order obtained by CBS Sports.
In granting the injunction, Sweeney found that the affected players “will suffer irreparable harm without” it, according to ESPN. Notably, she did not accept the NCAA’s argument that applying the ruling would create “roster chaos” across college sports — a characterization the governing body had leaned on heavily in opposing the injunction.
Because the ruling applies to the entire certified class rather than only the named plaintiffs, it extends to all Division I athletes who began their college careers in the 2022-23 season, not just a select group of individuals who brought the lawsuit, according to ESPN.
Why This Undercuts the NCAA’s New Eligibility Model
The ruling directly conflicts with the NCAA’s plan for phasing in its new eligibility framework. In June, the NCAA approved a new “Age-Based Eligibility Model” — commonly referred to as the “five-for-five” rule — that allows Division I athletes five seasons of competition within a five-year period beginning with their full-time enrollment or the academic year following their 19th birthday, whichever comes first, according to ESPN. The NCAA had intended for this new model to apply starting with athletes who enroll in college beginning in fall 2027, meaning the Class of 2022 athletes affected by Friday’s ruling were not supposed to benefit from the new framework at all under the NCAA’s original implementation plan.
Sweeney’s ruling forces the NCAA to extend eligibility to that same group of athletes immediately, a full year ahead of when the organization intended the new rules to take effect for anyone.
A Second Ruling the Same Day
Friday’s Colorado decision wasn’t an isolated case. According to Fox Sports, the ruling came just hours after a separate Tennessee court granted a fifth season of eligibility to Jalen Washington — who most recently played at Vanderbilt — along with 18 other basketball players named in that suit, including Donovan Dent, Cade Tyson, and Xaivian Lee, among others. While the Tennessee ruling applied specifically to those 19 named basketball players, Colorado’s class-wide ruling cast a far broader net across all sports and all affected athletes nationally, according to ESPN.
The two rulings followed an earlier setback for athletes in a related case: in January 2026, a federal judge in Nashville denied a preliminary injunction request from five college football players — including athletes from Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, and Nebraska — seeking a fifth season under similar antitrust arguments, ruling they hadn’t shown they were likely to succeed on the underlying claim. That January ruling suggested the legal landscape on this issue had shifted considerably by the time Friday’s rulings came down.
The Chaos Factor: Rosters, the Transfer Portal, and Even Pro Athletes
The practical implications of Friday’s ruling are immediate and significant. According to ESPN, the college basketball transfer portal was scheduled to open from August 3-10 specifically for newly eligible athletes affected by the ruling — giving schools and players only days to sort out an entirely new category of roster additions right as fall camps begin.
The ruling’s reach could extend well beyond current college rosters. Both ESPN and Fox Sports noted the decision opens the possibility that an undrafted player currently in an NFL training camp, or a player on an NBA summer league roster, could choose to abandon their professional pursuit and return to college for a fifth season instead — a scenario college football and basketball programs are now scrambling to game out.
According to On3, college football front offices across the country were left trying to determine, with fall camp opening the following week, whether they could realistically add players to their rosters under the new ruling, with particular concern about whether undrafted free agents from April’s NFL draft might explore a return to college.
The NCAA’s Response
NCAA President Charlie Baker responded to the rulings by renewing calls for Congress to pass federal legislation addressing college sports eligibility. “Today’s rulings and the chaos they bring to college sports are exactly why it’s time to pass this bill,” Baker said, according to Fox Sports, referring to a bill designed to provide the NCAA antitrust protection on eligibility issues — widely understood to be a reference to the Protect College Sports Act.
The NCAA confirmed it plans to appeal Sweeney’s ruling. According to CBS Sports, an NCAA spokesperson said the organization intends to appeal the Colorado order and “will seek to restore the status quo as soon as possible to protect participation opportunities for the countless student-athletes who chose where to attend school based on the understanding that the rules adopted by the NCAA’s member institutions would be applied as written.” An appeal would go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, according to OutKick.
An unresolved question hanging over the situation, according to OutKick, is whether the NCAA might instead choose to issue a blanket waiver extending eligibility to all affected athletes regardless of sport — a move that could sidestep further litigation even while the organization appeals the underlying ruling.
FAQ
Which athletes does this ruling affect? All NCAA Division I athletes from the high school class of 2022 who began playing college sports in the 2022-23 season and had exhausted four seasons of eligibility under the NCAA’s prior rules by the end of the 2025-26 season.
Does this apply to all sports, or just basketball? The Colorado ruling applies to all Division I sports, based on the class certification granted. A separate, narrower ruling in Tennessee the same day applied specifically to 19 named basketball players.
Is the NCAA appealing the ruling? Yes. The NCAA has said it intends to appeal to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and will seek to restore its original eligibility rules as quickly as possible.
Could this affect players currently in NFL or NBA rosters? Potentially. Legal experts and reporters covering the ruling noted it could allow undrafted NFL training camp players or NBA summer league players to return to college for a fifth season instead.
When does the transfer portal open for these newly eligible athletes? The college basketball transfer portal was set to open specifically for affected athletes from August 3 to August 10, 2026.
Conclusion
Friday’s ruling has thrown college athletics into a genuinely uncertain stretch just as fall camps are getting underway, with schools, athletes, and the NCAA itself all racing to figure out the practical fallout before rosters are finalized for the 2026-27 season. With an NCAA appeal already in motion and Congress being asked once again to intervene through federal legislation, the legal fight over how many seasons college athletes are entitled to play is far from settled — even as this particular ruling opens the door for potentially thousands of athletes to return to the field or court this year.
Sources: ESPN, Fox Sports, On3, OutKick, CBS Sports, AP (reporting dated July 31-August 3, 2026).