The NCAA is asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to quickly throw out a trial court judge’s ruling that granted Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss one more year of college sports eligibility.

“If courts can intervene in NCAA eligibility decisions to provide special treatment to favored athletes, then the NCAA’s ability to ensure fair athletic competition in which all participants play by the same rules will depend upon the whims of trial courts throughout the country,” attorneys for the college sports’ governing organization wrote in papers filed Thursday.

“Orders that substitute a trial court’s judgment regarding NCAA eligibility for that of the NCAA pose an existential threat to the NCAA’s administration of collegiate sports,” they wrote.

The NCAA attorneys also argued that speed is necessary.

“If this case proceeds in the ordinary course, it is unlikely that it will be resolved before UM’s first contest of the season during the first week of September,” they wrote. “Expedited review is essential to prevent irreparable harm to the NCAA and its members, to UM, and to Respondent (Chambliss).”

Chambliss led Ole Miss to its most successful season in 2025, culminating with a final No. 3 national ranking. The NCAA said, though, that he had exhausted his years of eligibility.

After a daylong hearing Feb. 12 in Pittsboro, Chancery Judge Robert Whitwell granted a temporary restraining order that Chambliss requested against the NCAA.

Whitwell ruled that the NCAA “acted in bad faith” in denying Chambliss’ appeal for another season of eligibility.

If Whitwell’s decision stands, Chambliss is expected to lead the Ole Miss team when its season opens in September.  Chambliss presumably would enter the season as a leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy. He finished eighth in Heisman voting in 2025.

Chambliss transferred to Ole Miss last spring after leading Michigan’s Ferris State University to the Division II national championship in the 2024 season.

The NCAA argued that Chambliss, who spent four years at Ferriss and then one at Ole Miss, had used up his allowed five years of eligibility to play a maximum of four seasons.

But Chambliss didn’t play at all his first two seasons at Ferris. He red-shirted as a freshman in 2021 and then was plagued by severe upper respiratory illness as a sophomore. He testified that he was told the 2022 season would count as a medical redshirt season. The NCAA argued otherwise.