Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in hopes of being eligible to play in 2025, according to briefs filed with the United States District Court Middle District of Tennessee at Nashville on Friday.

Pavia is challenging NCAA bylaws that count JUCO years against his eligibility because junior college players have no meaningful opportunity to earn money from NIL.

The petition was filed with judge William Campbell on Friday afternoon.

"We anticipate the court will set a hearing on the preliminary injunction within the next two to three weeks," Pavia's lawyer, Ryan Downton of the Texas Trial Group, told VandySports.

Pavia played JUCO ball before playing two years at New Mexico State and then the 2024 season at Vanderbilt.

If successful, the suit would grant Pavia a fourth year at the NCAA Division I level.

"The landscape of college football has changed dramatically over the last forty years," Downton said. "College football is now a multi-billion dollar business with top athletes able to make over a million dollars per year from NIL earnings. Because of those changes, JUCO football is not a reasonable equivalent to NCAA Division I college football and the NCAA Bylaws eliminating eligibility based on JUCO seasons are no longer valid restrictions under the United States antitrust laws. The restrictions in this caseare no different that other transfer restrictions eliminated by the NCAA earlier this year after a Court’s entry of a temporary restraining order in the State of Ohio v. NCAA case. We look forward to working with the NCAA to resolve this lawsuit in an equitable manner.”

Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea offered a statement to the court in conjunction with the lawsuit.

“Diego is a strong leader and great player for the Vanderbilt program and I would love to have him back next year," Lea said. "However, I cannot leave the team and program in limbo while an extended process plays out for Diego. Unless and until Diego gets a court ruling in his favor, I must proceed with building a roster without him.”

Vanderbilt’s regular season ends on Nov. 30. However, the Commodores achieved bowl eligibility with a 17-7 win at Auburn last Saturday.

The transfer portal for football players opens Dec. 9. and will close Dec. 28, with a second window opening in 2025 from April 16-25.

“Plaintiff Diego Pavia brings this action to challenge Bylaws 12.8, 12.02.6, and 14.3.3 (the “JUCO Eligibility Limitation Bylaws”) of Defendant, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”),” the 34-page complaint for injunctive relief, filed by Downton, reads. “These bylaws reduce the number of years former junior college football players can play Division I NCAA football after transferring to an NCAA Division I school and unjustifiably restrains the ability of these college athletics to earn money through the use of their name, image and likeness (“NIL”) connected to their work as a Division I football player. This action seeks declaratory and injunctive relief against Defendant for a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1.”

Pavia has thrown for 1,677 yards, 15 touchdowns and three interceptions while rushing for 563 and four touchdowns in leading Vanderbilt to a 6-3 start and a No. 24 national ranking in the latest AP poll. The Southeastern Conference named him its offensive player of the week for his role in upsets of Virginia Tech and Alabama.

Pavia earned Conference USA offensive player of the year honors last season after throwing for 2,973 yards and rushing for 928 last season.

The lawsuit outlines the limited opportunities for JUCO players against the backdrop of the overall NIL landscape as a basis for the complaint.

“In a landmark 2021 decision (NCAA v. Alston, 594 U.S. 69 (2021)), a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for college athletes to receive compensation for the use of their names, images and likeness (“NIL Compensation”) due to the NCAA’s violation of antitrust laws,” the lawsuit continues. “The market realities of college sports have changed tremendously over the last forty years. For instance, from 1982 to 1984, CBS paid $16 million per year to television the March Madness Division I men’s basketball tournament. In 2016, those annual teleIn 2016, those annual television rights brought in closer to $1.1 billion. As a result, the NCAA is no longer even arguably entitled to any “sort of judicially ordained immunity from the terms of the Sherman Act for its restraints of trade.”

“Reacting to the Supreme Court decision in Alston, the NCAA lifted its prohibition on NCAA athletes receiving NIL Compensation on July 1, 2021. In the three years since, the market for NIL Compensation opportunities available to NCAA Division I athletes has exploded, with the 2024 college football NIL market estimated at $1.1 billion. Significantly, those NIL Compensation opportunities are virtually only available to NCAA Division 1 athletes. In fact, only $6.5 million – less than six tenths of one percent of the $1.1 billion in football NIL Compensation this year projects to go to non-NCAA Division 1 football players.

“In other words, athletes playing football outside of the NCAA monopoly have no meaningful opportunity to profit off their name, image, or likeness. Even so, JUCO Eligibility Limitation Bylaws restrict the ability of athletes who begin their college football careers in junior colleges from having the same opportunity to profit from NIL as students who enter an NCAA institution as freshmen. Specifically, the JUCO Eligibility Bylaws limit athletes who begin their college careers at junior colleges to only two or three seasons of NCAA Division I football, as opposed to the four seasons of competition (and NIL Compensation opportunities) available to all other NCAA Division I football players.”

Vanderbilt faces South Carolina at home on Saturday.