A Look at Roster Limits for Boston College After House v NCAA Settlement
On Friday night, Judge Claudia Wilken approved the House v. NCAA Settlement, a landmark decision that will give schools the opportunity to pay players, put roster limits in place, and more.
One of the biggest aspects of the settlement is the limit to rosters starting in the 2025-26 school year.
Most programs will have a substantial increase in scholarships, but the settlement places a restriction on the amount of players allowed to be on a roster.
“Together the NCAA, the defendant conferences and the Division I membership have identified the existing NCAA rules that must change to reflect the settlement,” said NCAA president Charlie Baker in an open letter on Friday night. “These include replacing scholarship limits with roster limits — a change that will enable schools to vastly increase the scholarship opportunities student-athletes receive and potentially double the number of athletics scholarships made available to women.”
Boston College Sport | Old Scholarship Limit | New Scholarship Limit | Potential Increase in Scholarships |
|---|---|---|---|
Baseball | 11.7 | 34 | 22.3 |
Men's Basketball | 13 | 155 | 2 |
Women's Basketball | 15 | 15 | 0 |
Men's Cross Country | 5 | 17 | 12 |
Women's Cross Country | 6 | 17 | 11 |
Men's Fencing | 4.5 | 24 | 19.5 |
Women's Fencing | 5 | 24 | 19 |
Women's Field Hockey | 12 | 27 | 15 |
Football | 85 | 105 | 20 |
Men's Golf | 4.5 | 9 | 4.5 |
Women's Golf | 6 | 9 | 3 |
Men's Hockey | 18 | 26 | 8 |
Women's Hockey | 18 | 26 | 8 |
Men's Track & Field | 12.6 | 45 | 35.4 |
Women's Track & Field | 18 | 45 | 27 |
Women's Lacrosse | 12 | 38 | 26 |
Women's Rowing | 20 | 68 | 40 |
Men's Skiing | 6.3 | 16 | 9.7 |
Women's Skiing | 7 | 16 | 9.7 |
Men's Soccer | 9.9 | 28 | 18.1 |
Women's Soccer | 14 | 28 | 14 |
Softball | 12 | 25 | 13 |
Men's Swimming & Diving | 9.9 | 30 | 20.1 |
Women's Swimming & Diving | 14 | 30 | 16 |
Men's Tennis | 4.5 | 10 | 5.5 |
Women's Tennis | 8 | 10 | 2 |
Women's Volleyball | 12 | 18 | 6 |
The most impactful change in the core sports came on the diamond. Boston College baseball, along with other schools, can now have 34 scholarship players, a 22.3 increase from the original 11.7. Softball also saw a decent increase to 25 from 12, a 13-scholarship jump.
Football also had a significant change from 85 scholarships to 105, a change of 20.
Both Eagles men’s and women’s hockey will also have an increase in scholarships from 18 to 26, an increase of eight.
There are a couple of programs however, that had very slim changes in the settlement, if any.
Men’s basketball and women’s tennis both had a narrow increase of two with basketball jumping from 13 to 15 and tennis going from eight to 10. Women’s golf also had a slim change from six to nine, a change of three.
Women’s basketball did not see a change, keeping its original scholarship limit of 15.
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Kim Rankin is the lead writer for Boston College On SI. The 2020 graduate of the University of Alabama. She joined Alabama Crimson Tide On SI in February 2024 covering baseball, softball, football, men’s basketball, and more for BamaCentral, but has also contributed to Missouri Tigers On SI. She previously worked as the brand manager at Tide 100.9 FM in Tuscaloosa, Ala. She has covered a wide variety of events including SEC Championships, NCAA Regionals, and bowl games.
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