Does anyone know the Heimlich?

The GIST: Pending ratification on Monday, the NCAA’s Division I Council made major moves to reduce restrictions on name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals and the transfer portal this week, changes the org’s implementing to try and keep up with the ever-changing college sports world.

Multiple transfers now permitted: Since 2021, student-athletes transferring more than once have had to sit out a year before resuming competition, with grad school– and waiver-related exceptions. But,on Wednesday, the NCAA voted to update its rules, allowing athletes to transfer as many times as they want without penalty.

• This change, while welcome, is little more than a formality: A federal judge already suspended the previous restrictions via a December preliminary injunction, allowing students to freely transfer multiple times all semester. Now, they’ll simply do it with the NCAA’s blessing.

Institutions can now assist in NIL: The NCAA also removed many rules restricting schools from facilitating athletes’ NIL deals, alleviating some major administrative headaches. Starting August 1st, institutions can help students land deals with third-parties, aiming to provide “some stability and assistance to a very unstable environment.” All for it.

• In the announcement, the NCAA held its ground on prohibiting schools from directly compensating athletes, aka pay-for-play. Nonetheless, the amateurism model grows more precarious by the day.

• Case in point? Yesterday, the state of Virginia passed a law overriding the NCAA’s ban on schools inking their own NIL deals with athletes (effective July 1st), which could force the org to adopt president Charlie Baker’s grand plans faster than anticipated.

What’s next: The Virginia law explicitly states that student-athletes are not school employees and will not be compensated for athletic performance…but even that distinction could become irrelevant as unionization efforts chip away at amateurism. Combined with these new rules — plus conference realignment — college sports’ reinvention era is just beginning. Watch this space.

The GIST: A massive upset rocked last night’s women’s gymnastics national semifinals, leaving the field wide open for tomorrow’s championship meet. Absolutely flipping out.

The semis: While the first semi went as expected — No. 2–seed LSU and No. 3 Cal advanced without a hitch — the second semi was a stunner: In an unbelievable end to perhaps the most dominant regular season ever, back-to-back defending champ No. 1 Oklahoma recorded a shocking five falls, falling short of the final meet for the first time since 2012. A choke of epic proportions.

• Advancing over the Sooners? No. 4 Florida and No. 5 Utah, who only needed to keep their sh!t together to soar past Oklahoma and No. 8 Alabama.

The final: With Oklahoma off the mat, tomorrow’s final is anyone’s for the taking. LSU is arguably the favorite after their dominant semifinal performance, and Cal is the only finals first-timer — the rest are seasoned veterans who know how to shine on the sport’s biggest stage.

The individuals: While the team trophy will be awarded tomorrow, six gymnasts have already scored individual glory. Stanford’s Anna Roberts secured the championship in vault, LSU’s Aleah Finnegan sealed the floor title, and Oklahoma’s Audrey Davis shared two titles — the uneven bar crown with Florida’s Leanne Wong and the beam trophy with fellow Sooner Faith Torrez.

• As for the sport’s highest individual honor? Meet your new all-around champion, LSU senior Haleigh Bryant, who even out-flipped an Olympic gold medalist for the title.

The men: Can’t get enough gymnastics? The men also hand out their hardware this weekend: Six teams and 30 individuals will survive today’s semis to compete in tomorrow’s 6 p.m. championship meet (streaming on NCAA.com). Is the No. 1 Stanford Cardinal headed for a fifth (!!!) straight natty, or is another massive weekend upset in the, ahem, Cards?

🥎 Softball: No. 7 LSU Tigers (34-8) vs. No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers (32-7) — Today at 6 p.m. ET — SEC Network

• LSU’s Top-10 ranking is in serious jeopardy — they’ve lost four of their last five series in SEC play. Tennessee, on the other hand, hasn’t dropped a series all season. Will the Vols deliver a fatal blow in this three-game tilt, or will the Tigers live to fight another day?

⚾ Baseball: No. 4 Tennessee Volunteers (31-6) vs. No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats (31-5) — Today at 6:30 p.m. ET — ESPN+

• These teams’ meetings are usually high-scoring affairs, but this year’s series should be especially heavy on offense: Tennessee has the country’s best slugging percentage, while the ’Cats are coming off a run-heavy sweep of Auburn.

🥍 Men’s lacrosse: No. 3 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays (9-3) vs. No. 5 Maryland Terrapins (8-3) — Tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET — ESPNU

• Welcome to college lacrosse’s most heated rivalry, where the Jays and Terps will face off for the 127th time in the regular season’s final game. It doesn’t get more dramatic than this.

🥍 Women’s lacrosse: No. 1 Northwestern Wildcats (12-2) vs. No. 4 Michigan Wolverines (14-1) — Sunday at 12 p.m. ET — Big Ten Network

• Tied with the Wildcats in conference play entering this regular-season finale, the Wolverines have a golden opportunity to clinch their first-ever Big Ten title…never mind that they’ve never beaten Northwestern. No pressure.