NCAA adopts age-based five year eligibility

[Krymsonman]

My birthday is August 13th. I had been 18 years old for exactly 7 days before I attended my first class at UNA.

Man, you were old back then!! I turned 18 in November of my senior year in high school due to when I was able to start grade school in Alabama. A similar thing happened with my son, and I think starting school a little later definitely helped him on the mental side.

 

[BhamToTexas]

I don't know of hardly anyone (who plays sports) that "graduates early" anymore. When travel sports sanctions changed the rules and implemented a loophole where kids could essentially "play down" in age, the number of "hold backs" among athletes started to skyrocket across the board. When it comes to parents of athletes, they're more shallow than you give them credit for. I've been in the youth travel sports circle for over a decade. If you want to see the true character of a person, see how they act within their children's youth sports circles. Otherwise very level headed adults lose their minds when it comes to their kids sports. They'll do dang near anything if they think it means giving their kids even the slightest edge. It doesn't change when they get to high school. I'm in that circle right now with one of my sons.

I have 2 kids with August birthdays. We put them in school and didn't hold them back. It certainly hurt them in sports but they have been successful in every other area. It is amazing how many kids are getting held back now.

 

[davefrat]

That's the old math stuff that thinks 2+2 must always equal 4.

Sort of an odd take, but I was watching something about theoretical math (some of the smarter numbers people can weigh in here) and they discussed how 1+1 doesn't always equal 2 in the real world and they used the example of mixing two colors...yellow and blue to make one color, green.

So in that instance, 1+1 = 1.

I thought it was interesting but I'm too much of a moron in math and science to really understand.

 

[Elefantman]

Sort of an odd take, but I was watching something about theoretical math (some of the smarter numbers people can weigh in here) and they discussed how 1+1 doesn't always equal 2 in the real world and they used the example of mixing two colors...yellow and blue to make one color, green.

So in that instance, 1+1 = 1.

I thought it was interesting but I'm too much of a moron in math and science to really understand.

Or in childbirth. 1+1 can equal 3, 4,5 or more.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

Sort of an odd take, but I was watching something about theoretical math (some of the smarter numbers people can weigh in here) and they discussed how 1+1 doesn't always equal 2 in the real world and they used the example of mixing two colors...yellow and blue to make one color, green.

So in that instance, 1+1 = 1.

I thought it was interesting but I'm too much of a moron in math and science to really understand.

That's where theoretical and practical begin to come apart.

How about this: Think about the word, "number" for example. It contains six letters.....or, 1 + 1 + 1 +1 + 1 + 1. It equals one word. So by the logic the theoretical math guys cite, 1 + 1 + 1 +1 + 1 + 1 = 1

If you're far enough into theoretical mathematics to put forward something like that, you've already mastered the more basic stuff, including at least third-level calculus.

If you've done that, you can begin to think about numbers in a dope-smoking theoretical fashion.

That doesn't mean it's OK for an elementary school student to cite that argument and skate on saying 1+1 can mean anything I want it to mean -- because I can play a game of mental Twister and come up with a scenario that kinda-sorta-if-you-squint-your-eyes-and-stand-on-your-head seems plausible.

Music has a parallel. If you want to play like Thelonious Monk, you first have to learn scales, basic technique and study those who have come before you. Then, once you've mastered all that, you can go full-on artist, heading down the road of improvisational jazz. But unless you truly understand what you're doing, you're just banging piano keys.

 

[Bamabuzzard]

I have 2 kids with August birthdays. We put them in school and didn't hold them back. It certainly hurt them in sports but they have been successful in every other area. It is amazing how many kids are getting held back now.

We didn't hold back my oldest son, though we should have. Our two middle sons we did, not for sports reasons, but for emotional and mental maturity reasons. They would have graduated and entered college at 17. Boys are already behind females on the maturity scale. We just felt like they needed another year of maturing before going off to college.

 

[CB4]

As to the lawsuit seeking eligibility for players that would be ineligible for the 2026/27 season, the NCAA is already fighting an uphill battle. In multiple lawsuits, we have already seen the consensus opinion by most courts is eligibility is “arbitrary”. It’s a moving target by which the NCAA is attempting to control the college sports labor market. And the NCAA can’t really argue against it because of its history of passing out waivers like discount coupons.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

As to the lawsuit seeking eligibility for players that would be ineligible for the 2026/27 season, the NCAA is already fighting an uphill battle. In multiple lawsuits, we have already seen the consensus opinion by most courts is eligibility is “arbitrary”. It’s a moving target by which the NCAA is attempting to control the college sports labor market. And the NCAA can’t really argue against it because of its history of passing out waivers like discount coupons.

I think the NCAA would have lost O'Bannon anyway, and the dominoes would have fallen regardless.

But the NCAA gave up any moral authority that might have allowed other rules to stand. It did that through the waivers you point out and by wildly inconsistent enforcement of other rules.

Their justification was that each case was different, therefore each punishment (or lack thereof) is also different. IOW, we are judge, jury and executioner, and what we say goes.

That position didn't go over well with colleges, the courts, or the general public. The legal losses piled up, and we're now in a position where there is no governance -- anything goes.

 

[Padreruf]

I think the NCAA would have lost O'Bannon anyway, and the dominoes would have fallen regardless.

But the NCAA gave up any moral authority that might have allowed other rules to stand. It did that through the waivers you point out and by wildly inconsistent enforcement of other rules.

Their justification was that each case was different, therefore each punishment (or lack thereof) is also different. IOW, we are judge, jury and executioner, and what we say goes.

That position didn't go over well with colleges, the courts, or the general public. The legal losses piled up, and we're now in a position where there is no governance -- anything goes.

"We have met the enemy, and he is us." Pogo.

 

[CB4]

As expected , the Ohio judge grants the injunction.

Ohio judge grants preliminary injunction for men’s, women’s hoops players suing NCAA for eligibility

An Ohio judge has granted a preliminary injunction for 24 men’s and women’s college basketball players suing the NCAA to be eligible, claiming the new age-based model unfairly shuts them out of further competition.

apnews.com

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

That's where theoretical and practical begin to come apart.

How about this: Think about the word, "number" for example. It contains six letters.....or, 1 + 1 + 1 +1 + 1 + 1. It equals one word. So by the logic the theoretical math guys cite, 1 + 1 + 1 +1 + 1 + 1 = 1

If you're far enough into theoretical mathematics to put forward something like that, you've already mastered the more basic stuff, including at least third-level calculus.

If you've done that, you can begin to think about numbers in a dope-smoking theoretical fashion.

That doesn't mean it's OK for an elementary school student to cite that argument and skate on saying 1+1 can mean anything I want it to mean -- because I can play a game of mental Twister and come up with a scenario that kinda-sorta-if-you-squint-your-eyes-and-stand-on-your-head seems plausible.

Music has a parallel. If you want to play like Thelonious Monk, you first have to learn scales, basic technique and study those who have come before you. Then, once you've mastered all that, you can go full-on artist, heading down the road of improvisational jazz. But unless you truly understand what you're doing, you're just banging piano keys.

Isn't Theory basically an unproven hypothesis until it is proven as fact?

Give me applied math over abstract math any day of the week and twice in Sundays.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Group of 11 athletes challenge new NCAA eligibility rules in suit

Eleven Division I athletes -- all who depleted their eligibility in the 2025-26 season, have filed a federal class action lawsuit alleging that the NCAA's new eligibility rules adversely affected their ability to extend their college careers.

www.espn.com

These athletes are not asking for special treatment, they are just asking for treatment that is different than the rules applied to everyone else.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

Isn't Theory basically an unproven hypothesis until it is proven as fact?

Give me applied math over abstract math any day of the week and twice in Sundays.

The word theory has significantly different meanings in common conversation vs. the scientific / mathematical world.

In common conversation, "theory" often means, "what I think is the case." IOW, "my guess."

A mathematical or scientific theory is a lot more than someone spitballing whatever comes to his or her mind and slapping the label, "theory" on the idea.

In those worlds, a theory has been tested in a lot of ways, often published, and subject to peer scrutiny. There's solid evidence to support it. And while there might be some loose ends and open questions, nobody's uncovered anything to conclusively refute it....yet. But there also is no conclusive proof....yet.

That said, I agree about applied math vs. abstract math.