Throwdown Thursday | NCAA in Court | Episode 615

"We are playing chicken with a damn federal judge," said one high-ranking college leader. • U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken has issued a response to the amended House settlement submitted after this month’s hearing, writing in part: “The Court finds a decision by Defendants and NCAA member schools to begin implementing the roster limits before the Court granted final approval of the settlement agreement is not a valid reason for approval of the agreement in its current form despite the harm discussed above. Any disruption that may occur is a problem of Defendants’ and NCAA member schools’ own making. The fact that the Court granted preliminary approval of the settlement agreement should not have been interpreted as an indication that it was certain that the Court would grant final approval. […] The court will delay denial of final approval to permit the parties to attempt to modify the settlement agreement so that members of the Injunctive Relief Settlement Class will not be harmed by the immediate implementation of the roster limits provisions. One way of achieving that could be to modify the settlement agreement to ensure that no members of the Injunctive Relief Settlement Class who have or had a roster spot will lose it as a result of the immediate implementation of the settlement agreement.” Wilken calls for the parties to meet with a mediator within 14 days about potential changes to the settlement What Happens Next?... • The NCAA and power conferences released the following statement: “We are closely reviewing Judge Wilken's order. Our focus continues to be on securing approval of this significant agreement, which aims to create more opportunities than ever before for student-athletes while fostering much-needed stability and fairness in college sports.” • Leaders of the College Football Playoff gathered in Las Colinas, Texas, last week for their annual spring meetings, where they continued to discuss the playoff's future format and how to best determine the national champion in 2026 and beyond. What can 40 mil get you? • The most expensive football rosters are now in the $40M ballpark, according to Indiana HC Curt Cignetti, who tells CBS’ John Talty: "This is an unprecedented couple days, weeks, where everybody's waiting on this rev-share, and the five or six out there that have unlimited NIL resources, it's kind of scary for everybody else. #collegesports #ncaa #sportspodcast #sportsnews