In the NFL, “cut-down day” has long been an established part of the league calendar.

Each August, each of the 32 NFL franchises are tasked with cutting its roster size from 90 to 53 players ahead of the season. More than 1,100 players — long shots, aging veterans and agonizingly close calls — lose their jobs on a day coaches, front office personnel and players have long referred to as the worst of the year.

This summer, college teams face something similar — albeit at a smaller scale.

By opting into the House v. NCAA settlement last year, FBS programs are now subject to a 105-player roster limit. Unlike previous rules allowing for only 85 full scholarships — on rosters that could swell to 120 — all 105 players can be put on full or partial scholarship.

The 105 is, however, a hard cap. Teams didn’t have to worry about meeting that number last summer due to protections afforded to players who might have lost a roster spot after the settlement went into effect.

This summer? There will almost assuredly be cuts as teams — New Mexico among them — work to meet that cap.

How, then, are the Lobos managing it?

UNM carried 101 players into spring practice, including seven designated student-athletes (DSAs). DSAs are players “whose roster spots would have been impacted by immediate implementation of the roster limits” last summer, per an NCAA governance update, and do not count towards the 105-player limit.

Likely starting defensive end Darren Agu and running back Cameron Mathews are among UNM’s seven DSAs. The Lobos are also bringing in 20 incoming freshmen, putting the Lobos at 121 rostered players on paper when they likely need to be at 112 by the first game.

In April, coach Jason Eck said UNM would use a two-pronged approach split across the spring and late summer to meet that number. That approach is already underway. Friday, Eck said he and his staff met with some players this week to let them know “where they stood” as that number looms.

“Some of them, we’re not going to be able to bring back,” he said. “Some of them, (it’s) kind of, ‘Hey, you’re back, but you’re still at risk. You’re one of the guys who’s kind of in a pool that needs to improve.’”

Depending on the timeline, players have some options. Those that won’t be coming back for training camp can go try and play at another non-NCAA program, like a junior college or an NAIA team. Those programs are not subject to the NCAA’s rules against “ghost transfers,” players who leave one NCAA program and enroll at another without formally entering the transfer portal.

For players coming back for training camp but might not make it to the season, Eck said he’s told some he would bring them back for spring practice if they stay enrolled at UNM.

“The guys who are leaving right now, if we can’t bring them back for camp (this summer), we’re trying to help those guys figure out what they want to do,” Eck said. “If they wanna stay here in school and try to get their degree from the University of New Mexico, if they wanna play — you know, one of the guys is a graduate, so he wants to move on as a grad transfer (and try) to find some place where he can play and go to grad school.

“Everyone’s a little different (with) different scenarios.”

But it might not be as simple as making it to 112, which might work to UNM’s advantage. Last year, Eck said players who suffered a season-ending injury before games started were not subject to the roster limit, which could give UNM some wiggle room beyond 112.

Regardless, Eck says he sees UNM coming to camp with “no more than” 115 on the roster.

“It is a little tricker that way,” he said. “But it’s also, you gotta play by the rules. If guys are frustrated, you just gotta tell them, ‘Hey, we gotta make tough decisions.’

“And these are tough decisions.”

Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at @lenaweereider.

In what’s become a Mother’s Day tradition, Harford Community College defended its reign over junior college men’s lacrosse.

HCC won its fourth consecutive National Junior College Athletic Association national championship Sunday with an 18-17 comeback victory over Onondaga, of New York, extending a dominant run that’s made the Harford County school the most successful in the recent history of the sport.

“This is where it all kind of builds up to,” HCC coach Aaron Verardi said. “The standards are really high. They know what the expectations are here.”

HCC led by one after the first quarter and by four at halftime before Onondaga outscored the Owls in the third quarter to cut the No. 1 seed’s deficit entering the fourth. And after Onondaga scored four goals in the first two minutes of the final frame, HCC trailed for the first time and needed a rally to maintain its streak.

The Owls scored five goals in the game’s final 10 minutes while holding the opponent to three scores in that span to mount that come-from-behind effort in a one-goal victory.

Cody MacNeil, Hugo Peel and George Shonfield all had three goals. Four other Owls added two apiece.

“We’ve worked so hard this year, ups and downs the whole season, but just to be able to say that we’re national champions, it’s just a surreal feeling,” said MacNeil, a Canadian who ironically discovered HCC through a cousin who played for Onondaga years ago.

Onondaga took this year’s regular-season meeting, 17-12, in March, the start of an unusual road for the Owls this season. They lost more games this year (two) than they did over the previous three seasons combined (one). Then, HCC lost in the NJCAA Region 20 tournament to Howard Community College, which the Owls thrashed in the regular season.

That made HCC the No. 5 seed and road team through the rest of the postseason. The Owls bounced back to beat CCBC Essex in the national quarterfinals, avenged the loss to Howard in the semifinals on Saturday, and ended the weekend with a fourth consecutive trophy on their home turf. HCC and the NJCAA agreed two years ago to host the national championship weekend through 2028.

“Every team has its own story. I really think this team needed that,” Verardi said. “We had a lot of adversity. We battled through it all year, and I think we were able to put it all together at the most critical time.”

Sunday was HCC’s fifth title game appearance in the past six years. It beat Nassau (New York) in the championship in 2023 and 2025 and CCBC Essex two years ago. Verardi said this Onondaga team gave his group their toughest test on this stage of all their past opponents.

Most players on this year’s team weren’t around for those victories. Turnover is expected at the junior college level, and HCC has become known for producing future NCAA players. Verardi estimates 90% of his players find homes at four-year schools after their two years with him.

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This run has brought national, perhaps even global, notoriety to HCC. Six of the team’s players are from Canada, and three starters come from England. Others came to Harford County from California, New Mexico and Florida.

“We get to bring some of our Canadian ball down here to teach that to the Brits, to the Americans,” MacNeil said. “We learn the American ball. We learn the Brit ball. Our whole offense just meshes together, and it’s a perfect fit.”

Lacrosse players around the world want a chance at contributing to, and continuing, this historic stretch.

Have a news tip? Contact Taylor Lyons at tlyons@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/TaylorJLyons.

LOS ANGELES — As the Hawaii men’s volleyball team stormed the court after match point against Long Beach State, the shakas started forming, pointing up to the sky.

Two weeks after Long Beach State freshman Wojciech Gajek angered a team, and an entire fan base, when he flashed the double shaka and then pointed to the ground in the Beach’s five-set win in the Big West tournament final, the Rainbow Warriors got their revenge on the sport’s biggest stage.

Kristian Titriyski put down a match-high 14th kill for the final point and No. 2 seed Hawaii advanced to its seventh national final in school history with a 25-15, 18-25, 25-21, 25-22 win over the Beach in the semifinals of the National Collegiate Men’s Volleyball Championships on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.

Louis Sakanoko added 12 kills and Adrien Roure finished with 10 to give UH three players in double figures in kills. Justin Todd, who missed the previous match against Long Beach State with an injury, added a career-high 10 blocks and Hawaii (29-5) finished the season 3-1 against the Beach (25-5), who lost only two other matches.

After it was over, the ’Bows celebrated on the court near the net with a lot of the team, and even coaches, flashing the shaka sign toward both the Beach and the crowd.

SHAKAS UP IN PAULEY. advances to the national championship with a 25-15, 18-25, 25-21, 25-22 win over Long Beach State.

— Billy Hull (@billyhull)

“I think everyone took it a little personally,” Sakanoko admitted after the match. “That was a little way to send it back in a classy way.”

Hawaii improved to 7-3 in the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament and will face UC Irvine for the national championship on Monday at 1 p.m.

The match was similar to the one played two weeks ago when UH won sets one and three and Long Beach State took set two.

Hawaii, which couldn’t convert five match points in the fourth set in the previous meeting, trailed 18-14 on Saturday before closing on an 11-4 run with Sakanoko, Kainoa Wade and Roure all delivering serving turns of at least two points.

“One of the mantras that we have is good turns late,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said. “Guys going back to the service line when there is a lot on the line and guys like Kainoa come in and have a really good turn for us, Adrien came back there late and guys just kind of embraced this moment in being able to deliver when it counts.”

Gajek, who hit .071 with 11 kills and nine errors, had one of Long Beach State’s 18 service errors after the Beach led 18-14.

Sakanoko, who had six service errors and no aces, served his first one in that led to a Roure kill and a Beach timeout. They couldn’t freeze Sakanoko, who put another one in that led to a Trevell Jordan kill to get within one point.

“I was playing so bad from the service line that I couldn’t do worse,” Sakanoko said. “My team needed me at that moment and I had to (serve) in a good way. Get my ideas together and I know how to serve. Just tried to lock in a little more.”

The match was tied for the final time at 21-all when Titriyski pumped a kill off the block.

Todd, whose absence in the Big West final was certainly felt, teamed with Titriyski on a block of Gajek, and then Roure put one down from the back row for the first of UH’s two match points.

Long Beach State senior All-American Skyler Varga got to serve down 24-22 and forced Hawaii setter Tread Rosenthal to make a two-handed bump set back over his head as he tumbled near the courtside tables that was put in the perfect position for Titiryski to hammer off a double block to end it.

“I wanted to show what I can do against Long Beach and our team does an amazing job, but I wanted to contribute,” Todd said. “For the blocking part, I give a lot of credit to my teammates because at the net, whenever we are blocking, everybody is communicating to each other what we have to do and it just makes it a lot easier for me and my teammates.”

Rosenthal, who finished with 36 assists, five blocks, five digs and two aces, fell to the ground midway through the third set on a non-contact play and had to be looked at by the trainer.

He finished the match but was struggling to move around on the court.

“I know they are evaluating him now, but he was playing on one leg at the end pretty much, so, our team doctor is here with us and they are taking a look at him and we’ll get a little more info,” Wade said.

Varga finished the match with a team-high 13 kills to lead the Beach, who lost the first set by double digits after combining for 13 hitting and serving errors.

The Beach seized control of the second set on a challenge of a UH touch that wasn’t called on an out ball. The call was overturned to put the Beach ahead 21-18 instead of 20-19 and Gajek served out the set.

Hawaii used a 7-1 run, spurred by aces from Kainoa Wade and Titriyski, to take control of the third set leading 22-16.

Long Beach State served out to fall behind two sets to one.

LBSU finished the night hitting .200. Hawaii had 14.5 blocks to Long Beach State’s six.

“In order to win a national championship, which all of these guys have done, it’s one of the most special experiences out there,” Long Beach State coach Nick MacRae said. “When you’ve done it, then it’s like oh I want nothing more than to keep going after it, and you have to be in this very special moment in the Final Four to have a shot. You have to execute at a really high level, there is a little bit of lady luck that goes into it, and everything has to really be rocking. That’s what makes it so special.”

The Beach are the first team not to repeat as national champion since Ohio State won in 2011. UC Irvine (2012-13), Loyola Chicago (2014-15), Ohio State (2016-17), Long Beach State (2018-19), Hawaii (2021-22) and UCLA (2023-24) all won in consecutive years.

Hawaii is 3-3 all-time in the national final. One of those wins was later vacated (2002).