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Just before Christmas, a court ruling gave Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia an extra year of eligibility after he contested that his years of eligibility should not be affected by his time in junior college (JUCO) football. This ruling has led to a shakeup in college athletics.

The basis for the ruling comes from the NJCAA not being a part of the NCAA with a federal judge in Tennessee granting an injunction to allow Pavia to play another year of college football in Division I-FBS.

In Pavia’s lawsuit against the NCAA, he argued that the NCAA’s eligibility standards of counting a player’s junior college years against overall NCAA eligibility violates antitrust laws by restricting an athlete’s ability to profit from their name, image and likeness.

While the court ruling applied solely to Pavia, it opened the door for further litigation. So, earlier this week, the NCAA preemptively granted a blanket waiver for all NCAA athletes in a similar situation as Pavia, giving an extra year of eligibility to 2024-2025 seniors that previously played JUCO sports.

The NCAA waiver only extends to those that would have completed their NCAA eligibility this athletic season (2024-2025), and does not extend to those currently in JUCO. This could change, however. The NCAA is expected to address the matter in the offseason.