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Good morning. It's Wednesday, April 9.

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During Monday’s final approval hearing for the House v. NCAA settlement, roster limits became a central point of conversation. As it did, Judge Claudia Wilken of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California brought up an idea for athletes currently on rosters.

Multiple times during Monday's hearing, Wilken suggested a grandfather clause as part of a transition to new roster limits set under the agreement. If the settlement receives full approval, proposed rosters include football (105), men's and women's basketball (15), baseball (34), men's and women's soccer (28), softball (25) and volleyball (18).

Wilken started the hearing by confirming she would not rule from the bench, which meant a decision on approval did not come down Monday.

Early in Monday's hearing, Wilken suggested to NCAA attorney Rakesh Kilaru there be an exception for athletes currently on rosters before the changes would take place. That would effectively create a grandfather clause for current athletes who might otherwise lose their spots on the roster as part of the limits under the settlement.

Roster limits were key points from objectors who spoke during the hearing, as well. Utah swimmer Gannon Flynn passionately spoke against such limits, arguing athletes are living in constant fear of being cut as a result.

"If you don't have a perfect season," Flynn told Wilken, "you might not get another."

Roster limits were just one of Wilken's concerns throughout Monday's 6.5-hour hearing. She also expressed concern about future athletes and whether they’re covered in the class in the settlement.

As the hearing winded down, both attorneys told Wilken they'd get back to her in a week. From there, she said, they'd decide what would happen next, although there isn't necessarily a time constraint.

Wilken told both sides to work on issues they "can fix," but added, "Basically, I think it's a good settlement." – Nick Schultz and Pete Nakos

Judge M. Casey Rodgers of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida ruled Tuesday that the majority of Jaden Rashada's lawsuit against Florida head coach Billy Napier, former Florida director of NIL and player engagement Marcus Castro-Walker and well-known UF booster Hugh Hathcock to move to discovery.

Rodgers ruled that Rashada's tortious interference claims are dismissed, while his fraudulent misrepresentation and inducement, conspiracy to commit fraud and negligent misrepresentation claims survive to discovery and go toward trial. Napier, Castro-Walker, Hathcock and Hathcock's former company, Velocity Automotive, had all filed motions to dismiss in recent months.

Counts on tortious interference and a count on conspiracy that the defendants schemed to boycott Rashada were dismissed. But the brunt of the case moves forward – an unprecedented move in the NIL era.

Rashada filed the lawsuit last May. At the heart of the suit is a four-year, $13.85 million contract that played a crucial role in Rashada flipping his commitment from Miami to Florida in November 2022. According to court documents, the Gators allegedly reneged on the unprecedented NIL collective agreement, leaving the quarterback without a school and out millions of dollars.

"Hathcock allegedly boasted to Castro-Walker, within earshot of Rashada and his family, that he would deliver whatever NIL compensation package was needed to secure Rashada's commitment to UF," Rodgers wrote in her ruling. "And while Hathcock and Castro-Walker were in the thick of the initial negotiations with Rashada's agents, Hathcock allegedly said that he 'just listen[ed] to' whatever Napier and Castro-Walker told him to do.

"Napier's putative actions, in concert with the surrounding circumstances alleged in the Amended Complaint, at the very least created a plausible appearance that Castro-Walker and Hathcock were acting as Rashada's apparent agents during his recruitment to UF."

Rodgers also found that Rashada sufficiently pled a fraud claim under Florida law, supporting his allegations with "extensive prediscovery evidence to ostensibly support his factual allegations."  – Pete Nakos

"I spend a ton of time trying to figure out the new revenue-share system. How are you going to divide the money and the cap, and what are we going to do for NIL, and how do we get to 105? Then, yesterday, the judge says we may grandfather in roster limits. So, like, I don't know what the crap is going on. You waste a lot of mental energy, and I've heard a lot of players – we told all our guys in December, like, this is what we think the new framework is going to be. Now, if they go back to grandfathering it in, it's just frustrating. … But we'll adapt. We'll adapt to whatever they say. We'll find a way. We'll figure it out." – Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz on the need for clarity with the House v. NCAA settlement.

UConn's national championship win over South Carolina and Florida's comeback victory against Houston drew impressive TV ratings for ESPN and CBS, respectively.

The Gators' 65-63 win drew 18.1 million viewers on average, CBS and Turner Sports announced. The end of the game peaked at 21.1 million viewers as Florida completed a wild comeback to defeat Houston and bring home its first championship since 2007. That made it the most-watched title game since 2019 and a 22% increase from last year’s championship between UConn and Purdue, which averaged 14.8 million viewers across TBS, TNT and truTV.

Monday's game capped off a huge Final Four for CBS, with an average of 16.4 million viewers tuning in for the three games to mark a 21% increase and the best mark since 2017. As a whole, NCAA Tournament viewership was up 3% with an average of 10.2 million across the four networks – CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV.

On the women's side, Sunday's matchup averaged 8.5 million viewers on ABC, ESPN announced. That's lower than both the 2023 and 2024 national championship games, but is still the third-most watched on record behind those two matchups. In 2022, 4.85 million people tuned in as South Carolina defeated UConn in the championship.

While this year's women's NCAA tournament saw a ratings dip from last year’s heights – fueled by star power such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese as South Carolina won its second title in three years – it was still a strong showing for ESPN. The national championship success came after an average of 3.9 million people tuned in for the Final Four.

UConn's win brought the Huskies their first title since 2016 and proved to be a fitting farewell for star guard Paige Bueckers. Florida, meanwhile, got its first national championship since the 2007 team that completed back-to-back titles under Billy Donovan. – Nick Schultz

+ Texas QB Arch Manning officially has his first fashion NIL deal.

The Longhorns quarterback announced a partnership with Vuori this week. The company teased the partnership Monday before releasing a video Tuesday morning confirming its agreement with Manning.

Vuori is the latest addition to Manning's growing NIL portfolio as he gets ready to assume starting quarterback duties at Texas. He also inked deals with Uber and Red Bull this offseason.

Manning has a $6.5 million On3 NIL Valuation, which ranks No. 1 in the college football NIL rankings. It's also atop the On3 NIL 100, the first of its kind and de facto NIL ranking of the top 100 high school and college athletes ranked by their On3 NIL Valuation.

+ Livvy Dunne now has a signature drink through her longstanding deal with Accelerator Active Energy.

Accelerator announced “Livvy’s Cotton Candy” in partnership with Dunne. The launch also includes a personalized can. It is available for purchase on Amazon and at Rouses Markets locations in Louisiana.

Dunne – who has a $4.1 million On3 NIL Valuation – signed an NIL deal with Accelerator in 2023. The company also built a partnership with the Livvy Fund to help facilitate deals with other athletes, and some of her LSU gymnastics teammates such as Haleigh Bryant and Aleah Finnegan are also promoting the signature drink.

Dunne is the highest-earning female athlete in the NIL era and has partnerships with notable brands such as SI Swimsuit, crocs and Vuori. She also secured a multi-million dollar agreement with Passes as part of her impressive portfolio. Her On3 NIL Valuation ranks No. 1 in the Women’s NIL 100 and No. 4 in the On3 NIL 100.