College football players will be allowed to play unlimited games during the 2020-21 season without exhausting any eligibility, according to a report from The Athletic.
The NCAA Board of Directors was set to vote on a waiver for all fall sports student-athletes today. Now, players could participate in a full 12-game season of competition in either the fall or spring and still return. The “eligibility clock” will also not be affected this season, meaning many players could have six years to play five.
If a senior who would have graduated in 2020-21 chooses to return for the Fall 2021 season, he will not count against the 85-man scholarship limit. Schools have no obligation to fund scholarships for an extra year, similar to the ruling on spring sport athletes after the 2019-20 season.
The ruling comes on the heels of the Big Ten and Pac-12 postponing football season until the spring. Additionally, every FCS program at this point is planning to push football to the spring.
With piecemeal schedules and no guarantee that a fall or spring season could be played to completion, the NCAA is getting out ahead. This ruling means that star seniors like Sam Ehlinger, Charlie Brewer, Shane Buechele and Garret Wallow could be back come Fall 2021.
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