NCAA House Settlement: How Does It Change Things For Montana?

The House v. NCAA settlement saga received the go-ahead from a judge last week that allows colleges to pay athletes moving forward.

The settlement also repays "nearly 2.8 billion in back damages over the next 10 years to athletes who competed in college at any time from 2016 through present day," said ESPN's Dan Murphy in an article.

All Power 4 Conference (SEC, ACC, Big 10 and Big 12) teams will opt into the settlement automatically. The group of 5 FBS conferences and FCS teams will have the option to jump on board or not.

Clemson V Texas. Credit: Tim Warner (Getty)

So what will Montana do?

We caught up with HERO Sports' Sam Herder on what will happen moving forward.

Will Montana opt into the house settlement?

"Most of the group of 5 will end up opting into the settlements," began Herder. "For the FCS, there's probably going to be 20-30 FCS schools that decide to opt in this first year. Then I would expect that number to double next year because it's a year-to-year thing."

"Like Montana, the last I heard, South Dakota State, they're kind of leaning toward not opting in this year, and then next year is when they'll opt into the house settlement."

Grizzly Football. Credit: University of Montana Athletics

HERO Sports' Sam Herder Interview on the Daily Drive With Ace Sauerwein

FCS Realignment

Herder also discussed conference realignment and the immediate impact on FCS conferences. Herder says the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) should be ok after losing key members, Villanova, Richmond and William & Mary, to the Patriot League.

Credit: Scott Taetsch (Getty Images)

But one conference that could be in a world of hurt is the WAC.

"It's gonna be really hard for them [the WAC] to rebuild," said Herder.

The WAC is down to 5 full-time members. With a grim outlook, Herder thinks the current WAC teams have some options.

"The Texas schools [Tarleton State, Abilene Christian and UT-Arlington] are in a really good spot right now, so I do think they would have multiple options."

"I could see the ASUN (Atlantic Sun Conference) absorbing these teams."

The ASUN & WAC already have a bond through the United Athletic Conference, in which they've joined forces for a football conference.

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"They could also potentially go to the Southland. That makes sense - a Texas and Louisiana-based league. I do know the Missouri Valley Football Conference/Summit League, they do have interest in those Texas schools."

Tarleton State Football. Credit: John E. Moore III Getty Images

The remaining WAC schools, Utah Tech and Southern Utah, are in a tighter predicament.

"I do think the Utah schools are in a tough spot right now. I don't believe the Big Sky has much interest in expanding right now."

There is an asterisk next to the Big Sky's interest. If Sacramento State and UC Davis were to leave the conference, then we could see some mutual interest.

Listen to Herder's full comments in the podcast above.