17.4.8.3 Varsity Squad Size Limitation—Championship Segment. An institution shall declare a varsity squad of a maximum of 35 student-athletes by the day prior to its first scheduled contest in the championship segment of the playing and practice season. Only those student-athletes who are declared as varsity squad members at that time shall be eligible to participate in countable athletically related activities with the varsity squad during the remainder of the championship segment. Declared varsity squad members shall not participate in countable athletically related activities with an institution’s subvarsity team (e.g., freshman, junior varsity). A student-athlete who is a counter (per Bylaw 15.5.1) must be included in the varsity squad limit.
Note however that the rule requires the varsity squad to be "declared", which means submitted to the NCAA. It doesn't imply that a team needs to post the 35 man squad on the internet, although I suppose that most teams will. I think a team could choose to continue to list everyone that had been involved, or choose not to list a roster at all. After all, most teams don't publicly post the members of the 25 man roster, even though those are the only players actually available at away games.
Once the season begins, the compiled statistics reveal who is really playing. Last year Stanford had 40 players compete in at least one game, and 30 competed in conference games. Clearly this year, they can't have more than 35 compete, so it is going to be a change for them.
