• A federal appeals court granted the NCAA’s request to block a ruling that gave a fifth year of eligibility to 2022 high school graduates.
• The decision temporarily reverses a lower court’s injunction that had granted blanket eligibility to that specific class of athletes.
• This federal ruling does not affect separate state-level court decisions that have granted eligibility to certain athletes.

The NCAA garnered a significant legal victory at the Federal level in its quest to have the “age-based” eligibility rule implemented for only current student-athletes and not those who were members of 2022’s high school graduating class.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on Friday, Aug. 21 granted the NCAA’s request for a stay in the case of Brock Wisne, et. al, plaintiffs, vs. the defendant NCAA. The 2-1 decision among the three-judge panel came after the NCAA’s request for stay following U.S. District Court of Colorado Judge Caroline Sweeney’s initial ruling on July 31, that issued a temporary class-wide injunction that gave blanket eligibility for a fifth year of collegiate eligibility to all members of the 2022 high school graduating class.

USA TODAY Sports reached out to the NCAA for comment and directly received statement from Scott Bearby, the NCAA’s Chief Legal Officer.

“The Tenth Circuit’s decision to stay the preliminary injunction issued by a Colorado federal district court judge in Wisne permits Division I to return to the status quo before the district court intervened,” Bearby wrote to NCAA membership. “Effective immediately, the age-based eligibility rules will be implemented as the Division I membership intended. 

“Class members who were allowed to compete because of the Wisne injunction are no longer eligible to compete.    “The Association will separately continue to defend other similar putative class action lawsuits and the state court cases that have been filed by former student-athletes seeking additional eligibility and expeditiously appeal any cases where former student-athletes have, or will, be granted additional eligibility through separate state court rulings.  We are encouraged by the Ohio Court of Appeals’ decision to stay the first of those injunctions pending our appeal. “Institutions will not have violations for any class members who were allowed to compete consistent with the scope of the Wisne injunction prior to the stay being granted, and those former student-athletes are no longer eligible under the Wisne injunction. Staff will continue to process any hardship waivers or season of competition waivers submitted for a class member by the July 31, 2026, deadline.” 

In order to achieve the stay, the NCAA had to satisfy four criteria to be successful: “provide a strong showing it is likely to succeed on the merits; 2., whether the applicant will be irreparably injured absent a stay; 3., whether issuance of the stay will substantially injure other parties; 4., where the public interest lies.”

“We conclude the appellant (NCAA) has satisfied its burden to each of these factors,” the judges wrote in their decision. “We therefore grant the motion and stay the district court’s ruling.”

In plain terms, Sweeney’s ruling set forth on a national level – at least temporarily – the ability for all members of that high school graduating class who had otherwise exhausted their four years of collegiate eligibility to receive an immediate fifth year.

While Friday’s court ruling is a Federal win for the NCAA, it does not impact other individual rulings at the state level, such as a Louisiana court’s decision this week to grant a fifth year of eligibility to at least 16 plaintiffs in that case.

“The bottom line is this: the Tenth Circuit stay creates a two-tier system,” said attorney Ryan Regula, a partner at Snell & Wilmer who works in this legal space with universities and who also has background as a former NCAA student-athlete. “Athletes with their own independent court orders can still compete. Athletes who were relying solely on the Wisne class-wide protection cannot — at least until the appeal is resolved or they secure their own relief. We should expect a fresh wave of filings in state courts around the country as attorneys move quickly to fill that gap before fall seasons begin.

“It is, in many ways, exactly the scenario (NCAA President) Charlie Baker warned about — a patchwork of inconsistent court decisions creating differential treatment depending on which courthouse an athlete walks into.”

A fifth year of eligibility is the NCAA’s new model moving forward for all currently enrolled college student-athletes as well as matriculating high school students preparing to begin their collegiate athletics careers.

On June 23, 2026, the NCAA formally adopted an “age-based” eligibility model that widely eliminated redshirt years — limited athletic competition participation in order to preserve a four-seasons-in-five-years model — and granted the blanket opportunity for up to a maximum of five seasons of NCAA competition, regardless of injury or games played.

The NCAA, as it codified the new model, proposed the following for implementation:

“The rule change will be effective for all prospects initially enrolling full time in college in fall 2027 or later. 

“For students enrolling full time in college for the first time in fall 2026 and current student-athletes with eligibility remaining after the 2025-26 academic year, Division I schools will apply the previous rules (allowing four seasons of competition within five years) or the age-based model, whichever results in the most favorable outcome for each individual.”