The Second Test Arrives
Less than a week after the SEC and Big Ten formally banned professional players from returning to conference teams, LSU is reportedly expected to add former Ole Miss defensive tackle Zxavian Harris to its 2026 roster. Harris, who spent the 2025 season on an NFL practice squad after going undrafted, would be the second high-profile NFL-to-college attempt of the August — and the first major test of whether the conference's new rule holds.
The move mirrors the Dae'Quan Wright case, and that is precisely the point. Wright's bid to join LSU as a tight end — backed by a Louisiana court's temporary restraining order granting eligibility to roughly 16 former players — triggered the conference crackdown. Harris' situation is quieter but legally identical: a former SEC starter trying to walk back onto an SEC roster after an NFL stint.
The Eligibility Tangle
The SEC's new rule, approved Monday, states that professional athletes should not be permitted to return to college competition at member schools, with severe penalties — including postseason eligibility revocation — for athletic departments that add them. But Harris would not need LSU to add him through any special process: he has remained in the transfer portal since the spring, which puts his enrollment pathway in the ordinary department.
Two legal interpretations collide. The SEC argues its member-resolutions govern roster eligibility. Harris' representatives, citing the same Louisiana TRO that arm-wrestled Wright's case, argue that a court order extending eligibility supersedes conference policy. Legal experts are split, with one prominent sports lawyer telling CBS Sports that 'a conference cannot overwrite a court-ordered right' while SEC officials maintain that 'no team, coach, or player is above league rules.'
The ACC and Big 12 have not yet voted on identical bans, creating a potential landing spot for Harris if the SEC's interpretation wins: he could play for an ACC school (e.g., Georgia Tech or Pittsburgh, where there is reported interest) without ever setting foot in an SEC game.
What Harris Would Add — On the Field
Football matters here too. Harris was a breakout force at Ole Miss in 2024, recording 6.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss from an interior alignment before entering the 2025 NFL Draft. His practice-squad year in the NFL kept him in football shape, and multiple LSU staffers openly believe he is the best interior disruptor available in the portal this cycle — a 'first-round caliber player at SEC depth-tackle prices,' in the words of one scout.
LSU's defensive line is already expected to be a top-10 unit, anchored by Dominick McKinley. Adding Harris would give Lane Kiffin's defense the kind of interior pass rush that Georgia and Texas have — a direct answer to the Longhorns' rebuilt offensive line and the league's best quarterbacks.
What This Means for CFB 27
In College Football 27, the roster update that shipped with the Week 0 patch does not include Harris — and the game's designers face a genuinely novel problem: how to model a player whose eligibility is contested by his own conference. EA Sports has said the game will not include players under legal dispute, meaning Harris will not be a usable card until his status is resolved. Dynasty players who want a Harris-like interior disruptor should target LSU's freshmen or the portal class instead. If Harris does land at LSU, expect a mid-season ratings update adding a high-80s defensive tackle — the kind of in-season player drop that College Football 27's live roster team has used for portal signings before. Until then, the Harris saga is a dynasty-relevant reminder that roster math in real life is more volatile than any game's simulation.
