All 12 SWAC members will opt into the House settlement, the conference announced today.
The conference will also not set any scholarship caps.
“This is undoubtedly a significant moment for the Southwestern Athletic Conference and our twelve member institutions,” said SWAC Commissioner Dr. Charles McClelland. “As we move forward into a new era of intercollegiate athletics the Southwestern Athletic Conference remains steadfast in our commitment to provide our membership with the resources needed to positively impact our student-athletes academically and athletically.”
From HERO Sports’ previous reporting: The Southland, CAA, and OVC-Big South also did not set scholarship caps. The Big Sky and SoCon kept the football equivalency scholarship cap at 63 for 2025. The MVFC is deciding this week, and the UAC was undecided as of last week. The Ivy League has opted out of the settlement.
Opting in means a school no longer faces scholarship limits, but roster limits, which is 105 for football (teams can grandfather in spots above 105). However, conferences can set their own scholarship caps.
The current (pre-House) FCS formula is 63 football scholarships that can be spread out over 85 players (partial scholarships). For FCS schools that opt in but still face a conference-wide 63 scholarship cap, they can now spread those 63 scholarships over 105 players instead of 85, getting more players on partial scholarships. Opt-in schools could also work around scholarship caps by offering higher Alston payments, cost of attendance, or in-house NIL deals.
A CAA or Southland school, for example, that opts in can theoretically now offer 75, 85, 90, or even 105 football scholarships, which would create a competitive advantage. However, additional scholarships are expensive, especially when factoring in Title IX. It’s unlikely many FCS schools, operating on tight budgets already, can afford too many more scholarships.
