Summary

• From conference realignment to athlete protections, proposed NCAA reforms could reshape women's college sports by improving competitive balance, player development, and the student-athlete experience.
• As women's college sports continue to grow, these NCAA policy changes aim to reduce travel burdens, strengthen athlete support, and create more opportunities for long-term success.

As we prepare for the return of this season's fall sports, late summer should be a time of reflection on what college sports are, and what college sports can be. 5wins had five of our talented writers submit their proposals for improving collegiate athletics. Which suggestion is your favorite? Send in your own suggestions to @5wins_Sports on Instagram!

Conference Regionalization/Realignment for Non-Football Sports

By Alex Townsend

The Power-Four Conferences do not work for any team schedule other than football. For example, the Big Ten stretches from Seattle to New Jersey, with a flight time of around five to six hours. This travel across multiple time zones is unsustainable for athletes who play multiple games a week.

For football, this is manageable because they play one game a week, fly on a private charter, and have a full week before their next kickoff to recover. However, for sports that play multiple games a week, the travel is rough. A West Coast volleyball team could be subjected to play a home game on Tuesday and Thursday, board a commercial flight on Friday to the East Coast, play Penn State Saturday, and finally return home Sunday. This schedule and travel over a multi-month season ruins an athlete's ability to recover, taking a toll both physically and mentally. Not to mention how disruptive the heavy travel schedule is to their education.

The travel is not just a Big Ten issue; a similar problem exists in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) that also stretches to the Pacific Coast to include Stanford and UC Berkeley alongside East Coast schools like Boston College and the University of Miami. By implementing specific conference realignment for high-game volume sports, schools could leave their football schedules exactly as they are to protect TV revenue, while placing their volleyball, softball, and soccer teams into localized, regional competitive conferences to alleviate the toll on their athletes.

Let Conferences Be Sport-Specific

By Hunter Jones

Conference realignment has always been driven by football, but every sport pays the price. Women's basketball is one of the clearest examples.

The NCAA Tournament selection committee considers strength of schedule and quality wins when determining seeds. Yet conference affiliation, which is largely dictated by football, often determines those opportunities before a game is even played.

Take UConn. Since returning to the Big East in 2020, the Huskies have dominated the conference. In 2025-26, they went 20-0 in conference play, with most being blowouts. There simply aren't many opportunities to be tested. Meanwhile, teams in the SEC face ranked opponents on a nightly basis, allowing programs like South Carolina, Texas, LSU, Tennessee and Oklahoma to strengthen their resumes throughout conference play.

The problem is that conferences are assigned to entire athletic departments rather than individual sports. UConn women's basketball could thrive in the SEC or Big Ten, but the school's football program wouldn’t. As a result, one of the sport's premier programs spends much of January and February without the weekly challenges teams in deeper conferences experience.

If conferences influence rankings, tournament resumes and seeding, they should reflect the needs of each sport, not just one.

Medical and Roster Safe-Harbors

By Genesis Muckle

Implementing strict medical and roster safe habors in NCAA women’s sports would help in two major pillars: protecting athletes when unexpected injuries occur and protecting promised player benefits while managing roster sizes. The NCAA transitioned to a model that allows five competition season within a five-year timeperiod. Medical wavier requests have been greatly restricted with very few exceptions including military service and pregnancy.

To implement strict medical and roster safe-harbors, school athletic departments must enforce protocols that line up with the NCAA Division 1 hardship waiver legislation which gives students an extra year of eligibility if an injury occurs in the first half of the season and caps total game participation at 30%. To safeguard medical integrity, primary health providers must obtain absolute authority over return-to-play decisions to keep them from administrative pressures.

Concurrently, the roster pillar must also use safeguards to protect student-athlete benefits in the due to settlement-mandated roster limits. This can be done by grandfathering in existing athletes so they do not count within the new hard caps, guaranteeing that athletes financial aid will not be revoked if they are displaced as a result of roster downsize.

Smooth Out Substitution Rules

By Akua Agyei

College soccer players are often called up by their country to represent their nation in age group international tournaments. In these competitions, the substitution rule follows FIFA regulations, there is a limit of five subs per match and no re-entry. In 2024, the NCAA adopted a similar rule in Division I men’s soccer. Teams are allowed up to six subs and players can no longer re-enter in the second half. But on the women’s side, subs are still unlimited and re-entry is permitted.

Women’s college soccer should follow suit and adopt the substitution rule on the men’s side, especially since it is a pipeline to the professional leagues. Having no limits on subs and allowing re-entry kills the flow of the match. It does not allow players to get a feel for the game, build chemistry with others and how to manage playing for 90 minutes. Adding restrictions allows players to get in the groove, and it makes the game more watchable for fans. And when players are called up to represent their country, and/or transition to playing professionally, they have become accustomed to playing long minutes and will be able to adapt to the intensity.

Ways the NCAA Can Better Support Emerging Women's Sports

By Aidan Pagan

Emerging sports in womens collegiate athletics is on the rise. These programs provide opportunities for student-athletes and help colleges expand athletic participation in the NCAA. However, significant obstacles including financial, administrative, and promotional challenges stand in the way of full growth potential. The NCAA has an opportunity to play a larger role in mitigating these challenges and supporting program success.

Cost is a notable barrier because launching a new varsity sport requires investments in coaching, equipment, facilities, and recruiting. The NCAA could alleviate challenges schools face when starting up emerging programs by providing grants or subsidies to cover these costly early expenses.

On an administrative front, the NCAA could reconsider some of its thresholds. Namely, the current requirement that a sport be sponsored by 40 varsity programs before reaching NCAA championship status. Lowering this threshold has the potential to further grow emerging women’s sports by accelerating the path providing more student athletes with access to national titles and encouraging universities to fund the sport and prioritize these programs.

From a promotional standpoint, the NCAA could use its media agreements to boost emerging women’s sports across broadcast, streaming, and digital platforms. Increased exposure helps build fan interest and engagement, attract sponsors, and raise awareness.

It’s clear a foundation has been laid as we are seeing women's college sports gaining traction in the last few years. But as with anything there is always room for improvement and a path to greater success for the programs and its athletes.