There is a very simple way to level the eligibility rules for all

A dangerous precedent was set when a Mississippi Supreme Court, laden with Ole Miss alums and supporters, used home cooking to overturn the NCAA ruling that made Chambliss ineligible. Just about every knowledgeable college football fan could see the NCAA correctly applied is rules to declare Chambliss ineligible and decried the home cooking court ruling that restored his eligibility.

Similarly, just about everyone outside of Louisiana hates the idea of the courts restoring eligibility of players who have gone pro. Truth be told, if a Texas court was ruling players who signed contracts with the Dallas cowboys eligible to play for UT or Texas A@M, 99% of LSU fans would be crying foul too.

The culprit is NIL which has totally annihilated the already blurred line between amateurs and pros in college sports. Some college kids make more money than pros. Blurred lines and vague rules are fertile grounds for home cooking by local judges who can give stretched interpretations to outdated NCAA rules to benefit their state schools.

The solution to take this power away from local judges and put every school on a fair and level ground over eligibility issues is to establish a back and white eligibility rule that completely removes subjectivity. Set age limits for college eligibility. For example, have a rule that anyone whom is 24 years La or under on Sept 1 of any season is eligible for that that season, anyone who turns 25 before September 1 is not.

So I know anyone can come up with some reasonable objection to such a rule. I will not argue it’s a perfect rule. But it’s not an arbitrary rule and would remove the power of local courts to play favorites. The only exhibit needed at trial would be a birth certificate. The only issue at trial would be the legitimacy of the birth certificate. If Chambliss and Pyburn are 24 years old, let them play college. If they are 25 they would be ineligible.

Just let go of the fiction of college players being amateurs because they have not signed a pro contract. Colle amateurism is a fiction. Some college football players are making millions with NIL, more than some NFL players. The best and easiest rules to enforce are rules with the brightest lines that remove subjectivity. Age limits, while not perfect, would give bright line rules where we can stop pretending amateurism is the issue.

Take away the homerism of local judges. Reduce all the whining of talking heads on sports shows. Are an age limit. No doubt there would be suits challenging age limits, but thats a lot brighter and easier line to litigate than amateurism issues.