Due to the cancelled 2020 college baseball season, relief is coming to the sport for the Division 1 level during the 2020-21 seasons, as reported by D1’s Kendall Rogers.

NCAA Division I Committee for Legislative Relief’s blanket waiver covers 3 very important things for the 2020-21 season only — 1. eliminates the size of the 35-man roster, 2. annual counter limit increased from 27 to 32 players on scholarship and 3. gets rid of the 25 percent scholarship minimum.

The elimination of the 35-man roster and the increase in the annual scholarship counter had been discussed and was expected to be put into place; however, the elimination of the 25 percent scholarship minimum wasn’t expected to pass. Programs can now renegotiate scholarship amounts for the 2020-21 season.

The SEC’s proposal of an increase in the number of scholarships failed to pass, however. The SEC proposed to increase the annual scholarship amounts of 11.7 to 13.7 for one year only. (Yes, college baseball teams of 35-man rosters only have 11.7 scholarships to divvy up).

The unlimited rosters for the upcoming season makes sense, considering seniors didn’t get to finish their last year and incoming freshman can’t be forgotten due to depth and the future of the program. It also helps compensate for a shorter than usual MLB Draft, too.