NCAA ignored the warnings. Now It's fighting for survival in courtrooms across America over eligibility

Dan Dakich torches the NCAA for suspending Tennessee linebacker Arion Carter for a plane ticket.

The NCAA has spent the past few years pleading with Congress to help rein in the chaos engulfing college athletics, with a large chunk of the focus centered on the wave of lawsuits challenging student-athlete eligibility.

At this point, it feels like a daily occurrence. The organization tasked with enforcing its own rules is constantly reacting to another lawsuit filed in state or federal court by an athlete seeking an additional year of eligibility.

While NCAA officials continue lobbying lawmakers to pass the 'Protect College Sports Act'—which would provide the organization with greater antitrust legal protections against these challenges—they had the opportunity to avoid the chaos centered around the most recent flurry of lawsuits themselves.

When the NCAA adopted its new age-based eligibility model, giving athletes five years to play five seasons, it made one critical decision that is being argued in courtrooms across the country on a daily basis: it excluded the 2022 recruiting class from the new rule.

From that moment on, pure chaos has reigned down upon state courtrooms, while senators try to push the 'Protect College Sports Act' through congress.

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Athletes who believed they were unfairly denied an extra season of competition began filing civil lawsuits across the country, arguing they should receive the same benefits as those covered under the new eligibility structure.

Had the NCAA implemented the five-and-five rule a year earlier—or simply grandfathered in the 2022 class—college athletics might not be facing its current