Colorado Seminary (Univ. of Denver) v. NCAA
United States District Court for the District of Colorado
417 F.Supp 885 (1976)
The NCAA (defendant) ruled Canadian hockey players ineligible to play for the University of Denver because they had previously accepted room and board from a Canadian amateur hockey team, and when D.U. allowed them to play anyway, the NCAA imposed sanctions including a television and post-season ban and demanded return of a championship trophy. Colorado Seminary, which owned D.U. (plaintiff), sued alleging the eligibility rules violated Due Process and Equal Protection; the court dismissed the due-process claim outright since there is no constitutional right to play college sports, then addressed the equal-protection claim.
Whether NCAA eligibility rules prohibiting student-athletes from accepting aid outside of the educational institution violate the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the U.S. Constitution.