College sports will never be the same.

A California judge on Friday evening approved the NCAA’s landmark settlement of three antitrust cases collectively known as the “House settlement,”, ushering in a new era.

“We look forward to implementing this historic settlement designed to bring stability, integrity and competitive balance to college athletics while increasing both scholarship and revenue opportunities for student-athletes in all sports,” said Tony Petitti, Commissioner of the Big Ten Conference.

The key components of the settlement have been well understood for months, and schools like Indiana have been preparing for this day.

Here are the underpinnings of the settlement:

— Athletes will be paid directly by the schools.  Each school is permitted but not required to share up to a defined amount of revenue annually with their athletes. Per the settlement agreement, the cap is computed by taking 22% of the average of certain defined power school revenues, including ticket sales, television money and sponsorships.

In year one of the settlement — July 2025 through June 2026 — the cap amount is projected to be $20.5 million.  That amount will increase in subsequent years.  Schools can allocate those funds across specific sports and athletes as they desire.  Most schools are planning to allocate the vast majority to the top revenue-producing sports — football and men’s basketball.

Athletes can still get NIL deals with third-parties above and beyond this school-funded revenue sharing.

— A new enforcement entity, the College Sports Commission, will be operated mostly by the power conferences, and immediately takes effect.  Any new contract between an athlete and a third-party entity, such as a business, booster or collective, is now subject to a new Deloitte-run NIL clearinghouse.

The clearinghouse, called “NIL Go,” will evaluate NIL deals between athletes and third parties to determine if they are legitimate arms-length arrangements.  Contracts signed before the settlement approval and paid out before July 1 were not subject to the clearinghouse.

— All sports will have roster limits rather than scholarship limits.  Football’s roster limit will be 105 players.  Men’s and women’s basketball will be 15.  While most schools exceed those limits now when including walk-ons, current athletes are grandfathered in.

Under this new model, schools will have the option to offer partial or full scholarships to every student-athlete on a team’s roster, as long as the total number of student athletes stays within the sport’s specific roster limit.  If schools choose to create new scholarships beyond the historic scholarship limits, that cost is expected to count against the revenue-sharing cap, at least in the short-term.

— The House settlement will pay thousands of former athletes (who played from 2016-2024) $2.8 billion in backpay from lost name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation.

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• Louisville baseball and head coach Dan McDonnell are now just one win away from their sixth trip to Omaha, Nebraska, for the College World Series and first since 2019.
• Louisville starting pitcher Patrick Forbes threw 107 pitches, including 63 strikes (good enough for nine strikeouts).
• The Louisville Cardinals will face the Hurricanes again Saturday at 11 a.m. in what could be a series-deciding game.

The Louisville Cardinals (39-21) defeated the Miami Hurricanes (34-26), 8-1, in Game 1 of the NCAA baseball super regional series Friday evening at Jim Patterson Stadium.

U of L and head coach Dan McDonnell are now just one win away from their sixth trip to the College World Series and first since 2019. It’s a huge improvement on last year’s campaign, which ended with a loss to Clemson in the ACC Tournament.

The Cards will face the Hurricanes back at home again Saturday at 11 a.m. in what could be a series-deciding game.

McDonnell was asked about what his message to the team will be Saturday morning before first pitch.

Nine innings to Omaha, perhaps?

“I won’t say that word,” McDonnell answered. “I think this group has done a phenomenal job of just really enjoying the journey.

“… What they saw tonight, and what they get a chance to be a part of tomorrow, they don’t need to worry about anything else, man. Just enjoy Jim Patterson Stadium, and we get a chance to play a really good ACC conference opponent in Miami.”

Here are a couple takeaways from Louisville’s Game 1 win over Miami:

Louisville baseball’s Dan McDonnell on pitcher Patrick Forbes’ talent

Louisville baseball coach Dan McDonnell explains what makes pitcher Patrick Forbes a great athlete and Forbes’ future at the professional level.

Louisville’s starting pitcher was incredibly clutch on Friday.

Miami loaded the bases with just one out twice: first in the second inning and then in the third. In both instances, walks and Hurricanes hit by pitches landed the Cards in a high-pressure situation.

But rather than letting that pressure rattle him, right-handed pitcher Patrick Forbes threw perfectly timed strikeouts each time to helped U of L avoid an early deficit. He pitched two in a row to end the second inning and one to put the third away after left fielder Zion Rose snagged the previous batter’s fly ball.

“It’s not, I would say, an easy atmosphere to pitch (in) from excitement,” McDonnell said. “He’s already got electric stuff, so controlling electric stuff (is) not necessarily the easiest when you’re that juiced up and adrenalized. Buddy did a phenomenal job of getting through that tough inning, that bases-loaded inning. And that really gave us the juice and energy to run off the field with that momentum.”

Forbes left in the sixth inning to a standing ovation from Louisville fans. He threw 107 pitches, including 63 strikes (good for nine strikeouts). Forbes also allowed four hits, one run and walked four batters. He was replaced by right-handed pitcher Brennyn Cutts, who threw 34 pitches (including 25 strikes for two Ks), allowed one hit and walked one batter in 1 and 1/3 innings. Lefty Justin West (one strikeout, one hit) relieved Cutts at the top of the eighth.

By the game’s end, Miami had left 12 batters on base.

After a more-than-modest start, which included back-to-back out-of-the-park homers in the second inning from Garret Pike and Jake Munroe, U of L’s offense exploded in the third.

Five different batters scored to stretch Louisville’s lead from 2-1 to 7-1. Munroe hit a three-RBI homer in his second at bat to help Pike and Eddie King Jr. score. It marked Munroe’s first multi-homer game of the season.

The junior later flied out to right field in the fourth inning, but even that at bat allowed Matt Klein to score. Munroe ended the game with a team-high five RBIs.

“This guy, to my right (Munroe), man, he was locked in and swinging it,” McDonnell said. “You could put this guy in the six-hole. Woof. As he said, with Matt Klein being back in the lineup, we’re really stretched out. We’ve got some some options. Jake’s hit third, fourth, even sixth. We’re just kind of splitting up the righties and the lefties, and it’s a good game for us all the way around.”

Louisville announced that all session tickets had sold out Wednesday morning. And despite a weather delay that pushed Game 1’s start time back from 3 p.m. to 3:36 p.m., Cards fans showed out for the first NCAA super regional at Jim Patterson Stadium since 2019.

U of L baseball played in front of an announced crowd of 5,776. The fans made themselves heard at key moments. They stood for almost every final pitch of a Forbes or Cutts strikeout and chanted “C-A-R-D-S” after pivotal plays to keep momentum on Louisville’s side.

Forbes called the crowd “huge for the momentum,” and Munroe said “we (players) 100% feed off of it.”

That is, until a weather delay in the bottom of the eighth inning forced spectators out. During warmups, Louisville’s dugout started its own “C-A-R-D-S” chant and even tried to get a wave going as both teams prepared to wrap Game 1 up in a nearly empty stadium.

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Reach college sports enterprise reporter Payton Titus at ptitus@gannett.com, and follow her on X @petitus25.

Texas Tech pitcher NiJaree Canady inked another seven-figure NIL contract with the Matador Club, Tech’s NIL collective, Friday morning to return as the Red Raiders’ ace in 2026.

Canady’s manager, Derrick Shelby of Prestige Management, told ESPN that the junior pitcher, who became the first $1 million softball player in July, has full intention of remaining with Tech head coach Gerry Glasco.

“The decision to stay at Tech was not difficult,” Shelby told ESPN in an article published on Friday. “This program has taken care of her. They have showed how much she is appreciated. The entire staff, her teammates, the school in general have been great.”

Her commitment to the Red Raiders comes on the day of the Women’s College World Series championship-deciding game, which Canady will pitch in against the University of Texas at 7 p.m.

At Tech, Canady has tied the Red Raider record for most wins in a season as a pitcher and led Tech to its first Big 12 Championship and World Series appearance, according to Tech Athletics.

“Everything she wants from this game she can get here at Texas Tech,” Shelby told ESPN in the article.

A US District Judge settled the House vs NCAA settlement to allow college athletes to paid directly from schools and effectively end the era of college sports as amateur

College athletes are set to receive money directly from schools in a momentous change to the collegiate revenue model.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ended three separate antitrust lawsuits on Thursday — including the House vs NCAA — as colleges will back-pay athletes $2.8 billion for those who competed from 2016 to 2025.

Starting on July 1, a tentative model will exist where schools can pay athletes up to $20.5 million a year starting in 2025-26—this is expected to increase by a certain percentage year over year.

Effectively, college sports will no longer be treated as amateur. Athletes will be compensated more than through the previous NIL program started in 2021; they will be compensated directly by universities.

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NCAA President Charlie Baker penned a later shortly after the news chronicling his reaction. “We can now turn toward what most agree is our primary function: providing a world-class academic and athletics experience,” he explained.

“With these changes in place, including release from future litigation on these subjects for the next decade, the foundation of college sports is stronger than at any point in years.”

“The NCAA can increase focus on reforming clunky governance structures and, most importantly, prioritizing fair competition, academics and student-athlete well-being.”

Wilken’s ruling put an end to three ongoing rulings: Carter v. NCAA, House v. NCAA and Hubbard v. NCAA. The House vs NCAA lawsuit was originally made in 2020 by a pair of Arizona State college athletes: women’s college basketball player Sedona Prince and men’s swimmer Grant House.

Prince, 25, just completed her NCAA career with TCU after transferring ahead of the 2024-25 season. She was a First-team Big 12 member in 2025 and will be eligible for backpay by the NCAA.

With the Horned Frogs, Prince teamed up with current Chicago Sky rookie Hailey van Lith and reached the Elite Eight for the first time in school history.

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Baker also added that there’s more work to be done.

“Significant challenges remain, including attempts to force student-athletes to be classified as employees despite their leadership at all levels opposing this,” he stated.

“In addition, attacks persist on college sports’ ability to set national rules regarding years of eligibility — the policies that enable the next generation of young people to access educational and athletic opportunities.

“And states continue to undercut one another in a race to the bottom by challenging the ability of the NCAA and conferences to establish and enforce rules that maintain level playing fields. “

Big changes are coming to college sports. A judge has approved the NCAA’s “House settlement,” allowing schools to start paying athletes directly for the first time.

Starting July 1st, schools can share up to $20.5 million a year with players, mainly in football and men’s basketball. That number could grow each year.

The NCAA and power conferences (SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC) also agreed to pay nearly $2.8 billion to athletes who played between 2016 and 2024 for past lost earnings from name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities.

To make sure the money is handled fairly, a new group called the College Sports Commission will oversee all payments and rules. It’s separate from the NCAA and will enforce new limits, like a salary cap and roster sizes.

This means that any new agreement between an athlete and a third party — such as a business, brand, booster, or collective — must be reviewed and approved by the Deloitte-managed NIL clearinghouse.

Known as “NIL Go,” this clearinghouse will evaluate all NIL deals worth over $600 to ensure they meet fair market value standards. Deals that don’t meet these standards may be rejected, and athletes who accept unapproved offers could risk losing their eligibility.

This marks a major shift from the past when athletes were not paid directly and NIL rules were loosely enforced.

Lawmakers are now working on a federal law to protect the NCAA and schools from future lawsuits as a result of the settlement.

A new era of college sports is finally here.