NCAA Rule Changes

[CC United]

This may be old news, but it looks like the golden goal is back for the NCAA post season overtime play.

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/championships/sports/soccer/rules/2024-25PRXSO_MajorRulesChanges.pdf

[Crossit4fun]

I love Golden Goal makes it more exciting!

[jknezek]

https://swimswam.com/ncaa-expected-to-eliminate-scholarship-limits-across-all-sports/

Wait for this one. That's going to mean a lot more possible scholarships. Thankfully the SEC does not have men's soccer, but this will apply across all D1.

A lot of fringe D1 players making elite D3 schools who would have had peanut partials or preferred status are now going to get offers.

[Little Giant 89]

https://swimswam.com/ncaa-expected-to-eliminate-scholarship-limits-across-all-sports/

Wait for this one. That's going to mean a lot more possible scholarships. Thankfully the SEC does not have men's soccer, but this will apply across all D1.

A lot of fringe D1 players making elite D3 schools who would have had peanut partials or preferred status are now going to get offers.

What a nightmare the NCAA has become.

[eaglesoccerdad]

https://swimswam.com/ncaa-expected-to-eliminate-scholarship-limits-across-all-sports/

Wait for this one. That's going to mean a lot more possible scholarships. Thankfully the SEC does not have men's soccer, but this will apply across all D1.

A lot of fringe D1 players making elite D3 schools who would have had peanut partials or preferred status are now going to get offers.

Where is the $$ going to come from to fund the scholarships? There may also be roster size limits (24-28) that could limit D1 opportunities

[Kuiper]

https://swimswam.com/ncaa-expected-to-eliminate-scholarship-limits-across-all-sports/

Wait for this one. That's going to mean a lot more possible scholarships. Thankfully the SEC does not have men's soccer, but this will apply across all D1.

A lot of fringe D1 players making elite D3 schools who would have had peanut partials or preferred status are now going to get offers.

Where is the $$ going to come from to fund the scholarships? There may also be roster size limits (24-28) that could limit D1 opportunities

Under the settlement, colleges would be permitted to give anything between partial and full scholarships without the 9.9 limit, but schools could fund fewer than that and many or most will.  The roster limit will also mean fewer spots, which effectively could mean the overall spend will be kept down by spreading the money over fewer players and reducing the training player roster spots.

The latest rumor is that soccer will have a limit of 27, which is fine for most programs, but could be a meaningful reduction for some programs.

[Ron Boerger]

Also remember that any increase to scholarships on the men's side must be matched by equal funding on the women's side, basically doubling the costs associated with any increases.

Football also increases to 105, but for the first time they don't all have to be full rides so I would imagine the less wealthy schools will start divvying up their offers (and possibly combining with traditional financial aid).

[Kuiper]

https://x.com/imcollegesoccer/status/1816536338058940828?s=46&t=uXiupHZfR0TxrRyWF9BmRg

Breaking News: 🚨

NCAA D1 College Soccer

DM: Roster cap is officially 28.

Scholarship cap number is the same as the roster. (28 scholarships) Officially released tomorrow.

-D1 Power 4 Head Coach

#CSTruth Not every college or conference will be able to afford this. D1 Power 4 officially became for the ELITE athlete. With 28 full ride scholarships, the gap between the have and have not schools just got wider. 2025's and 2026's keep an eye on the roster sizes and if schools have to start making cuts this year.

The December transfer portal is going to be MASSIVE! Is it time for the D1 Power 4 schools to separate from the NCAA?

More news to come.

[SierraFD3soccer]

https://x.com/imcollegesoccer/status/1816536338058940828?s=46&t=uXiupHZfR0TxrRyWF9BmRg

Breaking News: 🚨

NCAA D1 College Soccer

DM: Roster cap is officially 28.

Scholarship cap number is the same as the roster. (28 scholarships) Officially released tomorrow.

-D1 Power 4 Head Coach

#CSTruth Not every college or conference will be able to afford this. D1 Power 4 officially became for the ELITE athlete. With 28 full ride scholarships, the gap between the have and have not schools just got wider. 2025's and 2026's keep an eye on the roster sizes and if schools have to start making cuts this year.

The December transfer portal is going to be MASSIVE! Is it time for the D1 Power 4 schools to separate from the NCAA?

More news to come.

Definitely.  I think overall it will just intensify the have and have nots.  On the mens side a lot of programs did not even have money for 9.9 scholarships. I think the richer programs will gradually increase, but not too much, as other than, huge football programs, they don't have much extra money. Any extra money or budget decisions are going to go to their football programs. So it may just be an increase without an actual increase. In 2025, there will probably be a lot of players transferring to D3 programs when there is not a slot for them at D1 program. Not so much in the womens as there are so many more D1 womens programs.

Also, D1 will just get more foreign players as the scholarship limit goes up and smaller rosters. That is trend that has just gone off over the years especially when Marshall won the nat'l championship in 2021. They had 39 field players and 6 goalkeepers with 26 foreign players (9 from Brazil alone). During that nat'l OT championship game against Indiana, Marshall played 12 players and only one was US and 5 or 6 Brazilian.

One of barriers in the past was not being able offer enough money to foreign players with limit so programs got US parents to foot the bill with their kids. Thus perhaps more US skilled players in D3 programs.

So maybe a sort of win for D3? However, we could just see less US players playing at any level especially if D3 coaches start to look even more for foreign players like some programs have.

[kansas hokie]

I don't think the roster limit will greatly increase CURRENT players going in the portal when 40% of all first-year D1 soccer players went in the portal last year as it is. However, the previous poster makes a GREAT point about international players. If top soccer programs now have more funds to spend for scholarships, then they absolutely will bring in more international players. In the past, it was really expensive to scholarship international players without a school "stacking" academic aid from the institution. Now, the schools have to spend set amounts on student-athletes and to me it's clear that removing scholarship caps is a move to quantify that spend through scholarships. How else do you spend $20 million annually?

That will then mean that the INCOMING club/academy player ('25 some, but more'26) will be facing a much harder recruiting landscape. There will also be many more players that lose their spots with only 28 on a team, especially if they are heavily scholarshiped. 18-20 players are heavily used in a season, leaving 8 spots for developmental first-year players. However, if those 8 don't show potential to be in that top 20, they will get cut. It's always been a harsh business, but now there's more money involved, it will get harsher. Add in the opportunity to fund international players and the supply just got bigger as well. Recruiting will be a new game.

Parent of two current college scocer players and a 2026 high-level academy player.

[Kuiper]

DIII Presidents Council uses emergency legislative action to amend transfer rules

The Division III Presidents Council took emergency legislative action to immediately change the requirement that transferring student-athletes would have to serve an academic year of residence before being eligible to compete.

Division III has been closely reviewing its transfer rules since January by engaging with the division's governance committees, faculty athletics representatives, commissioners and membership. Many of these groups supported eliminating the year in residence.

The proposal clarifies that a student-athlete who transfers while academically ineligible would not be immediately eligible for competition but could regain eligibility after the first term at the new Division III school based on the school's academic standards for all student-athletes.

The council acknowledged the significance of this change and noted that this action would typically be considered by the membership through a vote at the annual NCAA Convention. However, the council ultimately decided that immediate action via emergency legislation is warranted due to the recent and potential future legal challenges faced by the NCAA. The council noted that emergency legislation may be considered when the Presidents Council deems it appropriate to limit or avoid NCAA liability as a result of litigation, alternate dispute resolution or governmental proceedings. Finally, the council noted that the membership will have an opportunity to discuss the change at the 2025 Convention when it will be asked to ratify the action.

[Gray Fox]

DIII Presidents Council uses emergency legislative action to amend transfer rules

The Division III Presidents Council took emergency legislative action to immediately change the requirement that transferring student-athletes would have to serve an academic year of residence before being eligible to compete.

Division III has been closely reviewing its transfer rules since January by engaging with the division's governance committees, faculty athletics representatives, commissioners and membership. Many of these groups supported eliminating the year in residence.

The proposal clarifies that a student-athlete who transfers while academically ineligible would not be immediately eligible for competition but could regain eligibility after the first term at the new Division III school based on the school's academic standards for all student-athletes.

The council acknowledged the significance of this change and noted that this action would typically be considered by the membership through a vote at the annual NCAA Convention. However, the council ultimately decided that immediate action via emergency legislation is warranted due to the recent and potential future legal challenges faced by the NCAA. The council noted that emergency legislation may be considered when the Presidents Council deems it appropriate to limit or avoid NCAA liability as a result of litigation, alternate dispute resolution or governmental proceedings. Finally, the council noted that the membership will have an opportunity to discuss the change at the 2025 Convention when it will be asked to ratify the action.

Does this mean that there were transfers of students who were in academic trouble but still got to play at their new school?  No wonder the presidents were upset.

[SierraFD3soccer]

I don't think the roster limit will greatly increase CURRENT players going in the portal when 40% of all first-year D1 soccer players went in the portal last year as it is. However, the previous poster makes a GREAT point about international players. If top soccer programs now have more funds to spend for scholarships, then they absolutely will bring in more international players. In the past, it was really expensive to scholarship international players without a school "stacking" academic aid from the institution. Now, the schools have to spend set amounts on student-athletes and to me it's clear that removing scholarship caps is a move to quantify that spend through scholarships. How else do you spend $20 million annually?

That will then mean that the INCOMING club/academy player ('25 some, but more'26) will be facing a much harder recruiting landscape. There will also be many more players that lose their spots with only 28 on a team, especially if they are heavily scholarshiped. 18-20 players are heavily used in a season, leaving 8 spots for developmental first-year players. However, if those 8 don't show potential to be in that top 20, they will get cut. It's always been a harsh business, but now there's more money involved, it will get harsher. Add in the opportunity to fund international players and the supply just got bigger as well. Recruiting will be a new game.

Parent of two current college scocer players and a 2026 high-level academy player.

Going to send you email through this.

[SierraFD3soccer]

This may be old news, but it looks like the golden goal is back for the NCAA post season overtime play.

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/championships/sports/soccer/rules/2024-25PRXSO_MajorRulesChanges.pdf

So am way behind, but yesterday D1 had at least 2 OT games. https://www.ncaa.com/scoreboard/soccer-men/d1/2024/08/22/all-conf

[eaglesoccerdad]

This may be old news, but it looks like the golden goal is back for the NCAA post season overtime play.

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/championships/sports/soccer/rules/2024-25PRXSO_MajorRulesChanges.pdf

Looks like they only played 90 minutes in the UMBC v UMD match

So am way behind, but yesterday D1 had at least 2 OT games. https://www.ncaa.com/scoreboard/soccer-men/d1/2024/08/22/all-conf