NCAA Increases Scholarships, Sets Roster Limits For Multiple Sports

During a meeting held on July 23, NCAA power conference commissioners finalized new roster size limits, with the resolution hoping to pave the way for athletic departments to distribute millions of dollars in new scholarships to athletes in, most notably, football, baseball and softball. 

According to a report from Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger, football — which has a current scholarship limit of 85 and an overall player limit of 105 — would shrink to a 105-player limit for the 2025-26 school year, but would also see a scholarship increase of 20 players. 

One stipulation noted by Dellenger involving football was that the 105-player limit may not be a requirement until the start of the regular season, allowing coaches to potentially have an expanded roster beyond that number during preseason camp. This is a structure similar to the NFL, which allows teams to enter training camp with a maximum of 90 players before requiring them to cut down to 53 heading into the regular season. 

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said on Big Ten Media Days on July 23 that a trimming of the total roster but increase of scholarship players could take some getting used to, causing his program to potentially have some contingency plans in place to avoid roster attrition. 

“I would have to discuss it a little bit more with (Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork),” Day said during his breakout session at Lucas Oil Stadium. “Ross and I have had that conversation before. I think there has to be a discussion about — right now, 120 has been the number we all feel comfortable with going into a season.

“At 105, if you have attrition, if you have injuries, there’s got to be something in place to be able to replace (those numbers). Does that mean you bring in a certain amount of guys in the preseason and cut it back before the season starts? I think all of those need to be determined. I do know that 120 has always been a number we’ve used for years because it works. If we were to go to 105, we’d have to make some adjustments.”

As for the other sports, men’s and women’s basketball will see an increase from 13 scholarships to 15, baseball will move from 11.7 to 34, and softball and women’s volleyball, who each currently have 12 scholarships, will increase to 25 and 18, respectively.

Including football, this new proposal accounts for about 60 added scholarships across the six mentioned sports. All roster figures are expected to be finalized when the agreement to the House v. NCAA antitrust lawsuit is likely filed on Friday, which will distribute nearly $2.8 billion in back pay to former athletes while also formalizing the new NCAA revenue-sharing model.