A lawyer for Heisman Trophy runner-up Diego Pavia and 26 other football players has cited the NCAA’s decision to allow an NBA draft pick to return to college basketball as a reason that a federal judge should let his clients play in 2026 and 2027.

Five college football players at power-conference schools asked a federal judge on Monday for a preliminary injunction to play a fifth year next season.

The NCAA on Monday appealed the preliminary injunction granted by a U.S. federal judge giving Diego Pavia another year of eligibility even as the organization’s Division I board of directors granted a waiver allowing athletes in a similar situation as the Vanderbilt quarterback to play in 2025-26.

A federal judge granted Diego Pavia’s request for a preliminary injunction allowing the quarterback to play the 2025 season and told the NCAA the organization cannot take any action against Vanderbilt or any other university that Pavia plays a fifth season for next year.