There is still come clarity needed, but it’s possible that incoming 2021 Big Ten commitments could get two years in one year of eligibility.
I have to admit, I didn’t really contemplate any of the benefits of the Big Ten’s decision to postpone the football season (aside from player safety of course) when the Big Ten made its announcement Tuesday. There are so many hurdles in play by moving the season to the spring that it’s hard to get past all of that. What will the NFL do? What about playing two seasons so close together in such a high-contact sport, and how will scholarships work?
However, one of the points brought up by Ryan Day on today’s media availability was an interesting one that deserves further investigation. The premise is that a player in the Big Ten or Pac-12 (or any other conference that might postpone) could theoretically play two seasons in one calendar year, thus only exhausting one year of eligibility.
If the Big Ten (and Pac-12) can get football off the ground in January and end it in March as has been reported (and that’s a big if), that would allow more time to adjust and get ready for a subsequent fall season in August and Septemeber.
But then something interesting comes into play. Based on NCAA rules, a season is characterized by a calendar year. Therefore, there is an opportunity for players to get two “seasons” under their belt by exhausting just one year of eligibility.
There are still questions about whether or not the 2021 class would need to re-classify to the 2020 class, and the NCAA could throw a wrench into things, but at this point it looks like an option.
From the NCAA:
Division I five-year clock: If you play at a Division I school, you have five-calendar years in which to play four seasons of competition. Your five-year clock starts when you enroll as a full-time student at any college. Thereafter, your clock continues, even if you spend an academic year in residence as a result of transferring; decide to red shirt, if you do not attend school or even if you go part-time during your college career.
Now, for those that are already in the program, that doesn’t mean a whole lot because they are already missing out on the fall season, but when you start looking at incoming commits, it could be a big selling point. That means for any 2021 commit that wants to enroll early, they could perhaps play in the “spring” season that begins in January, then also participate in the traditional fall season that would come on the back-end.
They would then still have three more seasons, and three more years of eligibility. That’s the potential of five seasons in four years. Or, for those that declare early, it’s four seasons in three years.
Intriguing no?
Now, it’s important to note that this is an unusual circumstance to say the least, and the NCAA rules need to be addressed and researched in detail here. But that’s a good selling point to combat the negative recruiting that will undoubtedly occur from teams from the other Power Five conferences that are moving ahead with trying to play in the fall.
Also, there’s no guarantee the spring season can even be played in the Big Ten and Pac-12, so there are way too many unknowns to really take advantage of it just yet.
Still, if I’m a recruit looking for a home in 2021, and I’m willing to enroll early, I’m at least a little intrigued.
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