The Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Oversight Committee on Thursday discussed its recommendation for emergency legislation to address schools circumventing a sport's notification-of-transfer period by adding transfer student-athletes to their football roster who were not entered into the Transfer Portal during football's January window.
The committee recommends amending the proposal to remove the requirement that a school reduce the number of roster spots by five for the next season, regardless of the head coach's employment status at the school.
If the measure is approved by the Division I Cabinet, once an enrolled student-athlete who was not active in the Transfer Portal at the time of transfer participates in any athletically related activity at the next school, the following actions would occur:
- The head coach would be prohibited from all football (recruiting and on-field coaching) and administrative duties (team meetings) for six contests.
- The school would be fined 20% of its football budget.
Blanket waiver
The oversight committee approved a blanket waiver for off-campus recruiting during the 2026 spring contact period between April 15-May 23.
The blanket waiver allows FBS programs to designate 16 staff members who can participate in off-campus recruiting during that period.
The head coach, who may not recruit off-campus during the spring contact period, is not required to be included. No more than 10 of the 16 designated off-campus recruiters may be on the road at a time. The Football Championship Subdivision Oversight Committee is scheduled to discuss off-campus recruiters during a meeting Monday.
Deserving team exceptions
The oversight committee introduced legislation to modify exceptions to the deserving team rule, which determines the requirements that teams need to satisfy to be able to be selected to participate in a bowl game, beginning with the 2026 season.
Under the recommendation, schools reclassifying from FCS to FBS would be eligible to compete in bowl games if they meet the definition of a deserving team (e.g., at least a 6-6 record) and can fill one of their conference's bowl commitments.
Currently, teams that are reclassifying from FCS to FBS are not eligible to compete in postseason bowl games until their second year of reclassification and may be selected as an alternate only if they otherwise meet the definition of a deserving team and there are not enough deserving teams available to participate in that season's bowl games.
The committee is also recommending a change to the deserving-team exception that permits teams with at least five wins and a qualifying Academic Progress Rate to be eligible based on descending order of multiyear APR, with the team with the highest APR being eligible for selection first.
Under the recommendation, conferences and their bowl partners would be able to select one of the conference's 5-7 teams to fulfill a conference's bowl commitment instead of the opportunity to participate in that bowl being offered to the 5-7 team with the highest APR.
The membership has an opportunity to submit feedback on the proposal, which the committee will act on during its May 7 meeting. If the committee adopts the proposal, that action is subject to review by the Division I Cabinet before becoming effective. The Cabinet will have an opportunity to review the committee's action in June.
