NCAA Cabinet tweaks college football calendar with 14-week season and bowl rule change

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA Division I Cabinet has approved a series of changes to the college football calendar, including standardizing the Bowl Subdivision regular season at 14 weeks, and a proposal surfaced to further tighten the January transfer portal window.

Beginning in fall 2027, teams will be able to schedule up to 12 regular-season games for the 14-week season that ends following Thanksgiving. It allows for two bye weeks as well as “standalone weekends” for conference championship games and the Army-Navy game.

The cabinet this week also cleared the way for teams reclassifying from the Championship Subdivision to FBS to be eligible for bowl games immediately instead of having to wait two years. The change takes effect this fall and apply to teams like North Dakota State and Sacramento State, which will make their FBS debuts this season.

The Cabinet also asked its staff to continue looking into concerns about athlete tampering and to explore an enhanced agent registry system.

In other moves:

-- The FBS and FCS oversight committees proposed shortening the January transfer portal window from 15 to 10 days, beginning the first business day following Jan. 1.

-- The two committees proposed a new model for spring and summer activities. Spring drills would shift to two sessions with a total of 21 on-field practices (teams in both divisions are currently allowed 15 spring practices over 34 days). The two sessions would be capped at seven weeks total. The FCS proposal would allow teams to hold a joint spring practice with another four-year institution.

In the summer, FBS and FCS teams currently can require eight weeks of strength and conditioning training and film study with no on-field drills. Under the proposals, each school would designate a minimum of nine discretionary weeks for players with no mandatory activities.

The oversight committees are scheduled to vote on the proposals in August and, if adopted, they would take effect Jan. 1.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football