Freshmen have been eligible to play in NCAA sports since 1972. But could the rule change again, barring freshman from participating in varsity-level sports?
It's a possible consideration, according to CBS Sports. As NCAA reform starts to happen following the vote to give the Power Five conferences greater power to set rules and structure, the Pac-12 sent the following suggestion to fellow Power Five conferences.
7. Address the “one and done” phenomenon in men's basketball. If the National Basketball Association and its Players Association are unable to agree on raising the age limit for players, consider restoring the freshman ineligibility rule in men's basketball.
Yes, the point specifically addresses basketball. But the CBS report raises these important questions.
There are many unanswered questions, of course. Would scholarships have to be added and increase costs? Would all freshmen have to sit, or only those who do not reach an academic benchmark? Would this only be for basketball, or for other sports as well? Would athletic skills become rusty without competition? Is the idea only to better prepare athletes academically or is it to also integrate them socially? Does freshman ineligibility even accomplish one or both of those goals? Could this idea help repair the widening cracks in the NCAA's model, which is being threatened by many sides?
The whole report is a must-read if you're a big fan of college sports or simply interested in the landscape of NCAA reforms. Our guess here is that there are too many of those questions above to make sweeping rule changes that affect the eligibility of freshmen playing football.
The academic concerns of many recruits coming into universities are an incredibly valid point and we don't intend to belittle it. However, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, has already mentioned a desire for more scholarships beyond the currently-limited 85. If freshmen couldn't play, how much would scholarships need to increase by? 25? How would an increase then affect Title IX and other sports?
NFL teams may not be too happy about it either. While its three-year rule is currently a model for any potential age-limits in the NBA, making freshmen ineligible would mean that early entries into the NFL draft would have a maximum of two years of playing time before declaring. How vital is the third season of participation, even if it's spot-duty, to a player's pedigree?
Freshman team games could exist, but those would then be an extra set of expenses for schools, even if they were piggybacked onto existing game weekends.
NCAA reform is going to be messy and complicated; the cost-of-attendance reforms previously passed probably aren't going to be an indicator for how everything else will go. Many things will be suggested and discussed before they ultimately aren't implemented. For football, we're thinking freshman ineligibility is one that won't get further than the discussion phase if it's even considered at all.
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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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