Big Ten and SEC Announce Unanimous Rules Against Football Players with Violations
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Later on Tuesday, the Big Ten released a statement addressing the decision. "The Big Ten Conference announced Tuesday the unanimous adoption of a conference rule to prohibit football players who have signed a professional contract, were on a professional roster at any point or declared for the NFL Draft as an underclassman without withdrawing, from maintaining eligibility for athletic competition at a conference institution.
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Bleacher ReportEarlier on Tuesday, the Big Ten instituted a similar rule. "The Big Ten Conference announced Tuesday the unanimous adoption of a conference rule to prohibit football players who have signed a professional contract, were on a professional roster at any point or declared for the NFL Draft as an underclassman without withdrawing, from maintaining eligibility for athletic competition at a conference institution," the conference announced in a statement. "The conference continues to evaluate potential rules restricting professional athletes in other sports from conference competition."
CBS SportsThe Big Ten made it clear that its ban includes players who signed a professional contract, were on a professional roster, or declared for the NFL draft without withdrawing.
ESPNNFL, NBA, WNBA players cannot return, SEC says After the Big Ten passed a rule stopping players returning from the NFL from playing at its schools, the SEC followed suit, but took it further, adding basketball in announcing a policy forbidding members from rostering anyone from the NFL, NBA and WNBA.
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The Big 12 is mulling a similar ban, and the ACC is set to meet Wednesday to discuss the subject, sources told CBS Sports.
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Such violations will be dealt with swiftly and with tangible punishment. At least, that's the belief. Lawsuits from players -- and potentially schools -- are sure to follow if programs violate the policy to gain a competitive advantage, though that appears unlikely within the Big Ten after unanimous approval by the 18 schools.
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The SEC released a statement Tuesday night urging Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act in September to better protect itself from such developments, but the league, along with other power conferences, is moving toward individual conference-wide rules and enforcement.
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The move also potentially signals the first step toward the long-gestating proposals within the Big Ten and SEC to shoulder enforcement policies under a new rules-and-enforcement model separate from the NCAA. The conferences have been preparing self-governance models in case legislation fails to become law later this year.
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LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry has been supportive of Kiffin's plan, though it remains to be seen whether he will vote with his SEC colleagues this week to ban those players from participating in the SEC.
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The NCAA approved a measure allowing players to play up to five seasons within a five-year span, but only for players in the class of 2023 or later. That decision led to former players from the class of 2022 who had exhausted their four years of eligibility to file lawsuits seeking temporary injunctions for a fifth season. Some were successful, leading many players to rejoin rosters across the country -- though LSU opted to seek players who instead landed on NFL rosters.
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Fox SportsThis comes in the wake of several players who appeared on NFL rosters this summer going back to school to play college football, with temporary restraining orders being granted to 16 players in Louisiana, allowing individuals who graduated from high school in 2022 to play a fifth collegiate season.
4 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 ESPN Kiffin pushes back on eligibility double standard Lane Kiffin said that the SEC and Big Ten are using a moralistic double standard by allowing certain players with court orders to play while attempting to ban others.
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02 Bleacher Report That comes after tight end Dae'Quan Wright had an agreement in place with LSU to play for the football team after signing contracts with the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns this offseason.
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03 CBS Sports The SEC went a step farther than the Big Ten and also banned NBA and WNBA players from returning to school, and you can bet LSU is not thrilled about that, either, since Will Wade has been active in recruiting fifth-year players. The 2028 Tour Championship will have a completely new look. The top 30 golfers in the FedEx Cup standings open play at the 2026 Tour Championship on Thursday in what is now the penultimate installment of the existing format. The PGA Tour announced a new two-week Tour Championship that will begin in 2028. The tournament will pit the top 32 regular-season finishers against each other in match play, which promises to up the stakes and deliver new engagement in what should be an exciting finish to the playoffs.
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04 Fox Sports Big Ten plans to address eligibility after TE waived by NFL team intends to join LSU, AP source says - FOX Sports Big Ten plans to address eligibility after TE waived by NFL team intends to join LSU, AP source says FOX Sports
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Sources (4)
- cbssports
- bleacherreport
- foxsports
- espn