Big 12 and SEC Ban Former Professional Athletes; NFL Reaffirms Ineligibility for Returning Players

The Big 12 Conference has unanimously adopted a rule barring its schools from adding professional athletes in any conference-sponsored sport. This follows a similar rule by the SEC, which bans players drafted by NFL, NBA, or WNBA teams or listed on their rosters. Concurrently, the NFL has reiterated its longstanding policy that players who leave the NFL to return to college will be ineligible to play in the league for the current season, and not until 2027.