On Friday, July 31, federal judge Charlotte Sweeney issued an injunction that could give eligible Class of 2022 athletes a fifth year of college eligibility. Two days later, on Sunday, August 2, she clarified the ruling after an emergency request from the NCAA. For some, it was a dream come true, but for colleges, it was an absolute logistical nightmare. Obviously, that didn’t sit well with the NCAA.

With the college football season right around the corner, athletic directors were losing their minds trying to figure out how to handle this. Teams had already locked in their rosters, handed out scholarships, and set their budgets for the year. If dozens of former players suddenly returned looking for roster spots, schools had no idea where the money or space would come from. That left the NCAA with little choice but to file an emergency motion.

The judge heard the panic and stepped in again with a clarification that stopped things from getting even more confusing. She made it clear that while these athletes can get an extra year of eligibility, they still have to follow the NCAA’s normal rules, including its ban on players signing professional contracts and later returning to college.

So basically, they can keep playing. However, they don’t get any special treatment. That clarification helped calm the situation before the new season starts.

First, the judge said roster limits and revenue-sharing rules still stay the same. If a team already has a full roster, which is 105, it can’t simply add another player or pay out more money just because someone got another year.

And the second one is, players still have to follow the transfer portal rules. They can’t use this court ruling to skip the normal transfer deadlines. Moreover, athletes who were over 20 at the start of their five years are not eligible.

So, the NCAA has opened a special one-week transfer portal window from August 3 to August 10, giving winter sports athletes with extra eligibility a chance to join a new team. At the same time, the NCAA is appealing the ruling and hopes a higher court will reverse it before the season begins.

To understand why this happened, we have to go back to a new NCAA rule introduced earlier this year.

The NCAA created a new “5-for-5” rule that gives athletes five years to play five seasons, replacing the old redshirt system. But the rule only applied to future players. That left athletes like former James Madison linebacker Trent Hendrick, who graduated high school in 2022 and had completed four college seasons, without an additional year of eligibility.

Since they were too young for old COVID waivers and too old for the new rule, it kind of left them with nowhere to go. A similar case involved a basketball player named Brock Wisne from Northern Colorado, who decided he wasn’t going down without a fight.

He gathered 10 other athletes and filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, arguing that this policy violated antitrust laws. Their argument was that the NCAA was unfairly blocking them from competing, making money from NIL deals, and getting a piece of the new school revenue-sharing pools.

They argued that being forced to retire early was causing permanent damage to their careers. Thanks to this ruling, some former undrafted college players could get another shot at their dreams. And you may be surprised, but for the NCAA, this is not something out of the box. Just hours before the Colorado ruling, a separate court in Tennessee had already handed another group of athletes a major victory.

The Tennessee case began on July 6, 2026, when former Vanderbilt basketball player Jalen Washington and 18 other men’s and women’s basketball players sued the NCAA in Davidson County Chancery Court. They argued that the NCAA unfairly excluded them from its new age-based eligibility model, which was adopted on June 22 and allows certain athletes to compete for five seasons. Chancellor I’Ashea Myles heard the case on July 22 and granted a temporary injunction on July 31, making all 19 players eligible for the 2026–27 season.

She also ordered the NCAA to open a special transfer portal window for them from noon on August 3 until 8 a.m. on August 10. However, the ruling did not require any college to recruit, admit, fund, or add one of the players to its roster. Unlike the Colorado decision, the Tennessee ruling applied only to the 19 athletes named in the lawsuit.

Big-time athletes, you could see again in the Power 4 or CFB

Damonic Williams (TCU) is one of the biggest names on the list. After a strong college career, he went undrafted and signed as a UDFA. Front offices know that quality interior defensive linemen are always in demand, so it may only be a matter of time before an NFL team gives him another shot. But if a roster spot doesn’t open up, returning to college under the new eligibility ruling could become a realistic option.

Tommy Castellanos is another notable name. The dual-threat quarterback has already started working toward a return to a Power Four program. According to Pete Nakos of On3, Tommy cannot transfer and can only head back to the Seminoles, and could quickly become one of the most sought-after quarterbacks in the transfer portal.

Former Sooners running back Jaydn Ott is currently a UDFA with the Kansas City Chiefs. He spent his first three college seasons at California before transferring to Oklahoma for his final year. However, he technically qualifies for a fifth season. If he decides to return to college, it would likely be with a new team through the transfer portal rather than a return to Norman.

As long as there’s room on a 105-player roster, all of these players could have a legitimate path back to college football under the updated eligibility ruling.