Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss’ eligibility fight escalates as NCAA denies his waiver; the star quarterback takes his case to court next week.
Trinidad Chambliss' bid to play football at Ole Miss this fall took another hit on Wednesday when the NCAA denied his sixth-year eligibility waiver. The ruling was not unexpected for the star quarterback.
But it's also not the end of his journey. Not by a longshot. Chambliss is taking the issue to court next week.
Chambliss' injunction hearing is scheduled for next Thursday (Feb. 12) in Chancery Court of Lafayette County in Mississippi. The University of Mississippi is in Oxford, which sits in Lafayette County.
Chambliss wants another year of eligibility because he had a medical redshirt stemming from his second year at Ferris State in 2022. The NCAA denied Chambliss' initial request for a waiver on Jan. 9.
Chambliss had a breakthrough season in 2025. He became the Ole Miss starter in Week 3 and led them to an 11-1 regular season, plus wins over Tulane and Georgia in the College Football Playoff. They lost to Miami in the semifinals.
He would love to play another season at Ole Miss, with several million dollars in NIL potential on the line. He spent three years at Ferris State University, a Division II school in Michigan, and redshirted his first year.
His second year there, 2022, is in question in this argument because he could not play at all that season because a medical issue. He played briefly in 2023, and then started every game at Ferris State in 2024 before transferring to Ole Miss.
Ole Miss confirmed the NCAA's ruling in a statement on Wednesday night, and said the decision is "indefensible." The NCAA stands by its original statement on Jan. 9 that indicated a lack of proper medical documentation.
Ole Miss has argued that Chambliss "did not dress for a single game while suffering from severe, incapacitating medical conditions." Ole Miss officials said on Wednesday that Chambliss' representatives "will continue to pursue all available legal remedies, and we will publicly stand behind Trinidad while holding the NCAA accountable for a decision that fails to align with its own rules, precedent and the documented medical record."
The NCAA has had to battle rulings of local judges for years over eligibility issues. They are concerned that a ruling in an Oxford court is unbalanced in regards to nationwide NCAA rules.
In the filing in state court this week, the NCAA argued in Chambliss' case: "Collegiate sports will become ungovernable if eligibility determinations are instead the result of individual court decisions."