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Roster limitations in minor college sports pose challenges for athletes as coaches search for answers

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer

Helping athletes find college scholarships has never been easy, but in some ways it has at least been predictable. There have always been players vying for a reasonably well-defined number of roster spots, some of which included scholarships and some of which did not.

This year, all of that bill was thrown out, part of the fallout from the NCAA’s impending $2.8 billion antitrust settlement.

Liam Barrett, executive director of recruiting service US Sports Scholarships, said it was no surprise when a football player called last week to say his spot on a school’s roster in the Atlantic 10 Conference had been taken.

That player will enter a transfer portal that will likely double in size to as many as 1,600 football players, many of whom, like him, will be cut from teams struggling with shrinking roster sizes and uncertainty about the future.

“It’s just going to make it a lot harder for someone who’s not even in the college system yet to break through,” Barrett said, explaining the cascading impact that new college roster restrictions are having on high school prospects.

Many schools were busy figuring out how many roster spots they would have to offer for the 2025-26 school year leading up to Wednesday’s deadline for the revamped National Signing Day for “non-revenue” sports – everything except football and basketball.

That’s happening because the agreement that clears the way for schools to pay their players also imposes new roster limits and forces athletic departments to change the way teams — from the largest (football) to the smallest (golf ) – to be built up, to be reconsidered.

“I’m hearing from reserves and future recruits … who haven’t signed yet and are getting this tough call,” said Keegan Cook, coach of the Minnesota women’s volleyball team. “This is brutal. It’s really hard because now a squad spot is really a limited commodity, for lack of a better word, where it didn’t used to be.”

Higher squad limits don’t necessarily mean more players

At first glance, the terms of the House settlement — the agreement between the plaintiffs, the NCAA and the major college conferences that reshapes college sports — seem like a bonanza for college athletes.

Scholarship limits (e.g. 85 for football and exactly 9.9 for men’s wrestling) were eliminated and replaced with squad limits (105 for football and 30 for wrestling). If a school wants, they can offer scholarships to every player on a team.

However, this will cost an exorbitant amount. Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said if his athletic department decided to fund scholarships for every available spot, the cost of education under the new rules would add $29 million to annual spending, which has already fallen by about $21 million. Dollars should rise to finance the income of the new athletes. Division of provisions in comparison.

So decisions have to be made. Will schools provide scholarships to all 105 players on their football team? If so, will they make cuts elsewhere? Or will they continue to demand more money from boosters and fans to cover rising costs?

The small sports model will change

Most smaller, so-called Olympic sports have long since operated in a different world. For example, some split their 9.9 scholarships and distribute partial support to, say, 20 players. They then delve deeper into the process with supporting athletes, some of whom hope to receive scholarship assistance in the future.

Under the new system, some schools may choose to eliminate one or two sports entirely. Others will reduce squad sizes, whether of their own free will or because the new squad restrictions will actually make them smaller.

In wrestling, for example, the regulation stipulates a limit of 30 athletes. Some of the best programs in the country have up to 35 wrestlers on their team, many of whom pay their own way.

“Wrestling can provide access to college for so many young men and women who would not otherwise have that opportunity,” said Mike Moyer, executive director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association. “When you start limiting options, it’s always unfortunate.”

Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh estimates that sports across his campus will lose between 80 and 100 athletes between now and the changes for the 2025-26 school year.

Nebraska AD Troy Dannen told Huskeronline he is determined not to cut scholarships or athletic offerings in what is a $200 million operation at Nebraska. He encourages coaches and other administrators to think outside the box.

“Is there a better way to allocate it?” he said.

Minnesota eliminated three men’s sports — track and field, tennis and gymnastics — during the pandemic, easing the pain now.

“In hindsight, this decision looks really strategic right now,” Gophers AD Mark Coyle said.

Football gets special treatment as a money-maker

Underlying the entire college sports model is the fact that football, with the help of men’s basketball, generates the millions in revenue that fund every other sport on a typical campus.

The SEC helped its 16 schools answer some questions this fall by announcing it would maintain the 85 scholarship limit for 2025 but allow teams to fill the other 20 spots with replacement scholarships. The 105 squad spots would actually be a net loss, as the average squad size of major football teams is over 120.

There were reports last spring that the SEC would limit the number of swimming participants to 22, which is eight fewer than the new limit. Since women’s swimming teams are currently limited to 14 scholarships and men’s to 9.9 scholarships, the new cap, if passed, could dramatically increase the number of scholarships for these teams but also reduce roster sizes, which in some cases exceed 40 swimmers go out.

All of these decisions bring with them the possibility that the age of track athletes — the scrappy grinders who do it for the love of the game, school or both — is nearing its end. The opportunity to develop top athletes could also be lost.

“It’s like we don’t care if you’re an walk-on, there’s no room for you on the roster,” said Steve Roush, executive director of the local Southern California grassroots swimming committee. “This could have a devastating impact on our number of universities.”

Waiting for the consequences: the US (and other) Olympic teams

One of the least understood dynamics in American sports is the outsized influence of college athletics on the number of medals the United States wins every four years at the Summer Olympics.

The most dominant Olympic team in the world (the U.S. led in Paris with 126 medals) got 67% of its athletes from the NCAA pipeline.

A decline in the number of players in Olympic collegiate sports programs could ultimately harm the U.S. prospects and the overall quality of the Olympic movement itself (approximately 8.5% of athletes who did not represent the U.S. also competed in NCAA sports).

“There is a lot of concern about what impact this will have on Olympic sports,” said Rich Bender, the executive director of USA Wrestling, who also sits on the board of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee. “It doesn’t take too much imagination to think that the athletic department is unlikely to consider reducing spending on football and basketball when the resource pool is drastically reduced. So where are you going?”

In the best case scenario, there will be a massive shift, but not fewer overall places

Despite some dire predictions, it’s not all doom and gloom among experts. Some see missed opportunities for fringe athletes at larger schools as a chance for them to break through at smaller programs and actually get some playing time.

Others believe colleges feel a deep connection to Olympic sports.

“The good news is there’s been a lot of awareness: ‘Hey, it’s not cool to cut programs,'” Bender said.

Most expect more stability in 2026 or 2027 after the deal is finalized in the House and schools, conferences and the NCAA finalize the numbers.

However, there is uncertainty for the coming school year. As Dannen, the Nebraska athletic director, put it, “There are 100 questions I don’t have the answers to.”

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AP sportswriters Dave Campbell in Minneapolis and Steve Megargee in Milwaukee contributed.

The Associated Press contributed to this article