For the first time ever, one college football program has filed a lawsuit against another. The University of Wisconsin Badgers filed suit against the Miami Hurricanes, claiming that the Canes had tampered with one of their recruits.
Who is all of this about, and what exactly happened? Well, a former four-star prospect, Xavier Lucas, who signed and played a season with the Badgers, just left for Miami, and supposedly, the Canes didn't call him until after he had inked his NIL deal with Wisconsin.
The kicker? It worked. Lucas left for the Hurricanes. However, he never actually entered the transfer portal, and Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell never gave him the go-ahead to leave, nor did Wisconsin's NIL college.
In order to transfer programs, a player has to submit a transfer request within the designated transfer portal window for their sport. Other schools are prohibited from communicating with players who are not in the portal, or they risk violating the NCAA's tampering rules.
Now, the Badgers are (quite literally) putting their money where their mouth is (or vice versa), and taking Miami to court over their claim that "Miami interfered with UW-Madison’s relationship with Student-Athlete A [Lucas] by making impermissible contact with him and engaging in tampering."
NEWS: In a landmark moment in college sports, the University of Wisconsin has filed a lawsuit against Miami for tampering, and eventually poaching, a college football player under contract (Xavier Lucas), per documents obtained by @YahooSports.https://t.co/KVYafcAdm5
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) June 20, 2025
Big Ten backs Wisconsin's lawsuit against Miami
Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger first shared the news of what he called the "landmark" case. Shortly after Wisconsin filed suit, the Big Ten voiced its support for its member team:
"We stand by our position that respecting and enforcing contractual obligations is essential to maintaining a level playing field,” the statement said. “In addition to our legal action, we will continue to be proactive to protect the interests of our student-athletes, our program, and the broader collegiate athletics community."
According to the suit, a Miami coach and a "prominent alumnus" visited Lucas in December and offered him a "more lucrative" NIL package to induce, allegedly enticing him to leave Wisconsin for Miami while he was still with the Badgers.
As of June 20, the University of Miami had yet to release a statement regarding the lawsuit. Miami head coach Mario Cristobal also had yet to comment on the matter at hand.
An NCAA program has never filed a lawsuit due to tampering of this shape or form. To say that a decision on the suit could change college football forever is putting it lightly.