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With every offseason comes a slew of changes for the NCAA, and after the Michigan Wolverines won the National Championship a few weeks ago, the landscape of college basketball already looks very different next season.
Three big rule changes have either been passed or are close to becoming official in future months, all with implications for how rosters are constructed going forward and who will compete for the National Championship in future years.
Increased scholarship limits
The first began this past season, overhauling scholarship limits and roster size while introducing revenue sharing. Going forward, Division I men’s teams will be capped at 15 spots. Programs will be allowed to offer up to 15 scholarships, compared to the 13 they were eligible to give out previously.
For head coach Dusty May and Michigan, this already had a significant impact on his recruiting process this offseason. The Wolverines signed six high school recruits this past week, bringing in more freshmen than May has recruited in his previous two seasons in Ann Arbor. While the Wolverines needed to replace production from last year, he chose to grab more talent from high school than the transfer portal.
Why you might ask? May said it was all because of the increased scholarships.
“Yeah, the biggest component was the expansion of rosters,” May told the media on Wednesday. “We have 15 spots now and we thought this is a great opportunity to maybe take a flyer on a guy or two that we feel like will be really good in a couple years and develop them, pour into them, help them and give them everything that Michigan has to offer.”
Five years of eligibility
On the eligibility front, the NCAA is pushing new age-based rules that would allow athletes five years of eligibility beginning after high school graduation or their 19th birthday, whichever comes first. The rules, if passed, would impact athletes with eligibility remaining in the 2026-27 season and would do away with redshirt seasons.
NCAA president Charlie Baker told ESPN he is “pretty optimistic” the new rules will pass, noting exceptions for pregnancy, military service and religious missions would be included. Additionally, President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April directing the NCAA to create rules around the five-year eligibility window, adding political pressure to a process that was already underway. The Division I Board of Directors has directed the Cabinet to advance the new rules, with a potential announcement expected as early as next month.
May acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding the new eligibility framework, particularly whether the rules would be applied strictly or leave room for exceptions.
“Obviously, that changes the dynamics — do you use (redshirt players) in February? You just have to make sure they’re ready to go,” May said. “Is the five going to be a hard line five? I think that over the course of time, history’s proven that when you bring in a good attorney, everything’s flexible. So does a five and six happen if a guy has a couple injuries? I mean, I don’t know. So, like with the whole five and five thing, we just chose to cross that bridge when we got there.
Expanded NCAA Tournament
Perhaps the most widely discussed change heading into next season is the expansion of the NCAA Tournament. ESPN reported that the field is set to grow from 68 to 76 teams beginning next season, with the change expected to be formalized in the coming weeks.
The expansion would add eight men’s games, with 24 of the 76 teams playing on the Tuesday and Wednesday before the traditional 64-team bracket tips off Thursday. Though several NCAA committee approvals are still required, an ESPN source called them “formalities.”
As the reigning national champs, May offered an even-handed take on the expansion — one that revealed both the traditionalist and the pragmatist within him.
“If I was a czar of coaching, I probably wouldn’t have expanded it, but I could have easily been persuaded,” May said. “When I was an assistant at Louisiana Tech, before there was the NET, there was the RPI, and we were top-30. … We lost our conference tournament, came back home and didn’t even watch the selection show because it felt hopeless. After the show, they popped up the first four out and our name was up there. We said, ‘Holy cow, we actually had a chance.’ So if you could have four more teams experience March Madness, and people can criticize the NCAA all they want, but they put on an event like no other, then I’m for it.”
May added that while the traditionalist in him leans slightly toward keeping the field at 64, he ultimately finds the good in whatever direction things go.
“I’ll be excited that next year, Tulsa — who this year was the first team out — has a chance to experience the NCAA Tournament. That’s a pretty cool deal, and I’ll sign up for that.”
College basketball is entering one of its most significant periods of change in recent memory, and Michigan finds itself at the center of it (again). Fresh off a championship and already preparing for a different game next season, May isn’t losing sleep over the uncertainty. He is adapting once again and getting to work.
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