For the first time in college sports, top conferences have now implemented different rules about which athletes are eligible to play on their teams.
Following a bombshell ruling allowing several players who signed NFL contracts to return to college, the Big Ten adopted bans on professional football players returning to college. The Big SEC and ACC chose to put in place a similar ban for football—but also added basketball to the list. The Big 12 implemented a policy for all sports.
Even more than football, basketball will feel the biggest impact of these new policies. In some cases, they ban players who may have gotten eligibility under NCAA rules. In others, they’ve caused confusion about the complex international professional basketball rules less relevant in football. And looming over it all is the flood of lawsuits and court decisions.
“I think everyone believes things have got to change,” one power conference administrator told Front Office Sports. “But I think until things do change, everyone goes week by week with this. Like, ‘What’s gonna happen this week?’”
Pro Eligibility Yo-Yo
