NCAA rocked by Colorado judge's 2022 class eligibility ruling that could reshape college sports this year

College sports presidential advisor Cody Campbell discusses the Protect College Sports Act, which aims to restore order and establish rules in collegiate athletics, on ‘The Will Cain Show.’

The NCAA took a massive hit to its new five-and-five eligibility rule that was implemented earlier this month, thanks to a District Court judge in Colorado.

Over the past number of weeks, a plethora of lawsuits have been filed by athletes across the country who were part of the 2022 class that entered college that say the newly introduced rule by the NCAA infringes on their rights to make a living through NIL and have an additional year of eligibility.

The arguments made in court centered on the idea that players who completed their fourth year of eligibility and would have been ineligible under the previous rule should have been grandfathered in because of how the entire process unfolded this summer.

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A general view of the NCAA logo on the building exterior of the National Collegiate Athletic Association National Office on June 19, 2025, in Indianapolis, Ind. (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

After exhausting their fourth and final season (under previous rule), their time in college would have been completed.

This was essentially how lawyers were attacking the NCAA in a court of law, arguing that if the new five-and-five rule was being implemented, then athletes who exhausted their clock this past season under the old rule should be granted the same rights that players under the new guidelines would be entitled to.

UConn head coach Dan Hurley speaks during a news conference ahead of the national semifinal NCAA college basketball