The NCAA’s Division I Cabinet met on May 22 to discuss the final decisions of their new “five-in-five” eligibility rules package.  

While the cabinet will officially vote on whether or not they will implement the news rule package in late June, the NCAA has informed college hockey officials that the sanctioning body has rejected college hockey’s eligibility counter proposal.  

The counter proposal had support from the NCAA Commissioners Association, the NHL, USA Hockey, the College Hockey Coaches Association and multiple junior leagues including the USHL, OHL, QMJHL and WHL.  

The counter proposal asked the NCAA to forego the high school graduation rule for when the eligibility clock starts and would have had college hockey eligibility be based on age alone.  

To put this into perspective, of BGSU hockey’s 11 freshman players on last season’s roster, 10 of the 11 would have been breaking the new eligibility rules based on their age with all 11 breaking the new eligibility rules based on high school graduation.  

To read about some of the negative effects that the new eligibility rules will have on the hockey community, read Opinion: NCAA setting dangerous precedent with new eligibility rules on BGFalconMedia.com  

The NCAA’s Division I Cabinet will officially vote on the implementation of the new “five-in-five” eligibility rules in late June.