Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt come up short in bowl game as star QB's NCAA eligibility lawsuit ramps up

Vanderbilt Commodores backmost Diego Pavia came up abbreviated successful his pursuit of a ReliaQuest Bowl triumph implicit the Iowa Hawkeyes connected Wednesday afternoon.

Iowa won the game, 34-27.

Pavia was 25-of-38 for 347 yards with 3 full touchdowns – 2 passing and 1 rushing. The Heisman Trophy finalist had an 11-yard touchdown tally to chopped the shortage to 7 points. Iowa and Vanderbilt past traded tract goals, but the Commodores couldn’t get the shot back.

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Vanderbilt backmost Diego Pavia throws a walk against Iowa during the archetypal fractional of the ReliaQuest Bowl NCAA assemblage shot crippled Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, successful Tampa, Florida. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

The nonaccomplishment to extremity Vanderbilt’s play comes arsenic Pavia fights the NCAA implicit its eligibility rules. Although helium whitethorn extremity up entering the NFL Draft, the suit is continuing successful hopes of helping different inferior assemblage players. The suit challenges the NCAA regularisation that counts seasons spent astatine inferior colleges against players’ eligibility for Division I football.

Last week, a lawyer for Pavia and 26 different shot players cited the NCAA’s determination to let an NBA draught prime to instrumentality to assemblage hoops arsenic a crushed that a national justice should fto his clients play successful 2026 and 2027.

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Vanderbilt Commodores backmost Diego Pavia (2) throws a walk against the Iowa Hawkeyes successful the archetypal 4th during the ReliaQuest Bowl astatine Raymond James Stadium connected Dec. 31, 2025. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images)

Pavia initially sued the NCAA successful November 2024 and won a preliminary injunction weeks aboriginal that allowed him to play this season. He was the SEC Player of the Year this play with 3,192 passing yards and 27 touchdown passes successful the regular season. The Commodores finished 10-3 aft the nonaccomplishment to Iowa.

The quarterback’s suit has since added 26 different plaintiffs, including Tennessee Volunteers backmost Joey Aguilar.

NCAA rules springiness athletes 5 years to play 4 seasons nether an eligibility timepiece that begins astatine immoderate "collegiate institution" careless of whether the schoolhouse is an NCAA member.

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Pavia played astatine New Mexico Military Institute successful 2020, which wasn’t counted toward eligibility due to the fact that of the COVID-19 pandemic. The led the schoolhouse to a inferior assemblage nationalist title earlier helium played astatine New Mexico State successful 2022 and 2023 and aboriginal Vanderbilt.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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