Edition #905
October 6, 2026
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Pacific Union hires Walla Walla Men’s Basketball HC/Compliance & Eligibility Coordinator Brandon Broome as its new AD. (link)
The NAIA has published the final five seasons of competition legislation to be voted on next month. If passed, the new rule would allow five seasons of competition across 10 semesters or 15 quarters, provided a student-athlete has completed 96 semester or 144 quarter credit hours, with at least 64 semester or 96 quarter hours towards general education of a student’s major. (link) NAIA VP of Membership Value and Governance Chesney Sallee with more details…
➤ “If a student entered this current academic year with eligibility remaining, so that would mean at least one season remaining and at least one term of attendance remaining, that student could potentially compete in a fifth season in the future. Now, recognize the terms of attendance aren't changing. So if you have a student who exhausts their terms of attendance in this current academic year, they would not be able to continue on and use a fifth season in the following academic year.”
➤ “The change that you'll see in this proposal is just clarifying that that 5-year clock model is not honored at face value in the NAIA. Meaning a student who plays in another association where they use the clock model and exhausts their clock that is not treated at face value in terms of exhausting all eligibility for that student in the NAIA. Rather, if you have a student who has done that, who has exhausted their clock in another association and wishes to transfer to your school, we would evaluate their seasons of competition and their terms of attendance essentially from scratch. So, we'd look at their transcripts, we'd look at their playing participation history, and if that student had seasons and terms remaining, they could be eligible to continue competing in the NAIA.” (link)
The most daunting challenge the Protect College Sports Act faces in passing the House might be the short window left to reach a finish line, per ESPN’s Dan Murphy, who notes the legislative body is scheduled for just 20 more working days spread across five weeks between now and the end of the year. “While that could be extended if lawmakers are debating high-priority issues such as a government funding deal, it's unlikely they would add time solely for the PCSA.” If the House can’t reach a vote before the end of 2026, the process would begin anew in January, and if Republicans lose control of the House in the midterms, “the likelihood of the current bill being revived is low.” More…
➤ Portions of the bill prescribing how often schools should schedule games with their rivals, how long the season should last and other items in a "grab bag of random things" in the legislation stretch beyond the role the federal government should play in a private industry, according to a House aide. Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) recently shared a similar sentiment in a statement to the Washington Sun: “It's really important that we allow the schools to govern themselves."
➤ A spokesperson for the Congressional Black Caucus, which remains staunchly opposed to the PCSA as written, says authors haven't been willing to engage in serious conversations with members or with other groups that represent the interests of Black student-athletes while crafting the legislation. “The CBC carries more sway in the House than the Senate -- 58 of its 62 members are in the House. The group played a major role in defeating a different college sports bill called the SCORE Act in the House last year. A spokesperson for the group said the CBC would also like to see university leaders, especially from Southern states, take a stronger stance against racial gerrymandering before throwing its support behind any bill that helps the college sports industry.” (link)
NAIA VP of Championships Austin Bennett joined College.town’s Anthony Grassi to discuss the growth to 31 national championships for the association, selecting championship host sites and more. With the addition of women’s flag football and beach volleyball, flag has grown to over 60 programs, doubling over the last year. Beach volleyball membership has remained steady at over 30 members: “We're very hands-on with invitationals and helping it grow. And so I think the National Administrative Council thought, ‘Hey, let's give it a nudge and see if that sparks continued growth or even increases continued growth in that.’” Looking ahead, Bennett says the association is keeping an eye on shooting sports, powerlifting and STUNT as the potential next wave of sports. More from Bennett…
➤ On selecting host sites, the facility and hosting group are 1A and 1B amongst the number of considerations. As for the balance between long-term hosts versus rotating championship venues: “I think any team sport, it would be awesome to have long-term hosts, hosts where we know the road ends in Wichita, the road ends in Lewiston, the road ends in Sioux City, Kansas City, whatever it might be. And then I think some of those individual sports are the ones we'll continue to rotate around just because of the nature of the sport, to be honest. … I think for those team sport championships, finding a home, finding a place where it can stick for five or 10 years is the ultimate goal.”
➤ Asked about cost considerations, Bennett says it may be time for a third-party hotel partner to help control costs and the NAIA has evaluated what postseason championship reimbursement insurance may look like for sports other than football. On how costs impact bracketing: “There are times in that room where you may flop four seeds that are three or four spots apart in the overall seeding, but they're on the same seed line; that's a $40,000 switch. So if I can save a flight by not sending somebody, that only adds to the opportunity to reimburse others or a greater number of the schools in the field because we were able to save on that. … We try to be honest with those in the room that are ultimately signing off on it, that these are no longer $10,000 decisions. These are $20, $30, $40,000 decisions depending on the sport.” (link)
The NAIA Baseball World Series will remain at Lewis-Clark State through 2033, with an option to extend the deal through 2038. VP for Championships Austin Bennett: “Year after year, the LC State team creates an outstanding championship experience for our student-athletes, coaches and fans. From the atmosphere at Harris Field to the people behind the scenes who make the Avista NAIA World Series special, Lewis-Clark State understands what it means to create Championship Moments.” (link)
Northwestern (IA) will name its renovated on-campus stadium after former Hall of Fame Football HC Larry “Bubb” Korver. The Red Raiders broke ground on the $10.9M project over the weekend. (link)
Dakota Wesleyan recently held its wrestling practice right on Main Street in Mitchell, SD. AD Ross Cimpl to Calling All Sports on the support from the local community: “We get just tremendous support from the Mitchell community and for different teams, different events. … It's those types of things that I think the community appreciates that we're willing to do, but we also appreciate the opportunity. I mean, we're literally going to put wrestling mats, not quite in front of the Corn Palace, but a block down in front of Bradley's and shut the street down for a couple hours just so that we can get some exposure for our kids in a different program and do something unique. It's so great; we don't hear no a lot, I guess is what I'm saying in terms of different events or different fundraisers.” (link, link)
U.S. Council for Athletes' Health has expanded their advertising efforts with College.town to include the NAIA.ticker and NJCAA.ticker audiences, in addition to their existing coverage of the D1.ticker, D2.ticker, & D3.ticker audiences where they deliver third-party athlete health and safety consulting, education, and consulting. (link)
Colleges and universities remain deeply divided over the deployment of AI-detection software to combat automated academic dishonesty four years after the launch of ChatGPT, according to The Atlantic's Will Oremus, who notes Turnitin has sold its AI detection add-on to roughly 1,400 North American institutions—flagging AI writing in nearly half of all U.S. university submissions last academic year—while maintaining a claimed false-positive rate under 1% and a false-negative rate around 15%. Competitor Pangram reports an internal false-positive rate of 1 in 25,000, yet major institutions like Vanderbilt, Indiana and Harvard have discouraged or banned automated detection due to concerns over false accusations, bias, and evasion tactics like "humanizer" tools. MIT teacher-education program director Eric Klopfer offers his solution: "We’re trying to think about how we approach the design of our education system in a way that should hopefully mitigate even the need for AI detectors. If it feels like what I’m doing is checking a box that says I’m going to get credit, then it’s understandable why students would want to take a shortcut." (link)
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(Posted from most recent over the last 30 days)
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