Late last month, the NCAA Football Oversight Committee floated three punishments for teams who added players that did not enter the transfer portal. After a month of discussion and feedback, the Oversight Committee has decided to drop one of the three punishments -- the lightest one.
The discussion comes as spring football practices are underway across the country, and the Oversight Committee is looking to close a loophole in the transfer portal system. After cornerback Xavier Lucas left Wisconsin for Miami last year by simply unenrolling from Wisconsin and enrolling at Miami without ever entering his name in the portal.
To prevent copycats, the Oversight Committee suggested three punishments, all of which would not stop players from unenrolling at their current campus but would deter teams from taking such players:
-- suspending the head coach from all coaching, recruiting, and administrative activities for six games
-- a fine of 20 percent of the team's football budget
-- a reduction of five roster spots for the following season
The NCAA announced Friday that it is no longer recommending the reduction of five roster spots, but will continue to suggest the suspension and fine, both of which are far more serious punishments -- especially in the age of 105-man scholarship limits at the FBS level.
While it remains to be seen how legal any of this is, it's an indication of how serious the Oversight Committee is about closing the Lucas Loophole.
Other business:
-- The Oversight Committee approved a blanket waiver from April 15 to May 23 allowing FBS teams to designate up to 16 assistants who are permitted to recruit off-campus. Of the 16 assistants, only 10 are allowed off-campus at a given time. The FCS Oversight Committee will discuss a similar waiver on Monday.
-- The Oversight Committee has eliminated the waiting period for teams transitioning from FCS to FBS to participate in bowl seasons. Recall James Madison, then coached by a guy named Curt Cignetti, not being allowed to play in a bowl game in its 2022 transition season despite going 8-3 in the regular season. Because of the NCAA's ban, the Dukes were not permitted to play in the Sun Belt Championship despite tying Coastal Carolina for the East Division championship and beating Coastal by 40 to end the regular season.
Now, North Dakota State and Sacramento State will be permitted to play in a 2026-27 bowl game, assuming they qualify. The NCAA's ban does not address whether the Bison (or the Hornets) could play for the Mountain West (or MAC) championship and/or be under consideration for the College Football Playoff, but it would be a surprise if those organizations did not change their rules after the NCAA changed theirs.
-- The Oversight Committee is recommending changing the "deserving team" requirement for bowl games that would remove the academic incentive. Currently, if not enough 6-6 teams qualify for the 40-odd bowl games, the process of backfilling those slots goes to the 5-7 team with the highest APR score. The Committee is recommending removing the APR consideration and allowing bowl games to choose a 5-7 team within their conference tie-in. In effect, this would drop the minimum number of wins for bowl eligibility from six wins to five.
All proposals are open to feedback until the Oversight Committee's May 7 meeting. All changes must be approved by the Division I Cabinet, which would take place in June.