College football is about to go through a shakedown once again. NIL continues to influence some harsh changes in the sport. That’s despite the NCAA trying to stabilize it with the House settlement. Programs are already putting their financials through an overhaul, in compliance with the new rules. One program, with a tenured and rich history, stands the chance of a major punishment from the SEC. This particular program was itself under the spotlight of the NIL crisis just in the spring.
If you’re keeping up with legal activities, Nico Iamaleava’s exit will not be the only blot in Tennessee’s history. They now, shockingly but very much truly, stand a chance to be kicked out of the SEC! This major development comes after the state signed a law affecting the NIL operations of Tennessee. But it’s not just any law. This is one that allows Tennessee’s top colleges to go around the NCAA rules set by the House Settlement. In fact, the law gives these schools the power to even become outlaws, according to George Wrighster of the Unafraid Show.
He says in a June 23 video, “It protects schools like Tennessee and Vanderbilt and Memphis from penalties even if their collectives break the rules.” But the SEC is not sitting quietly either. “If they don’t play ball, the SEC could actually suspend them or even boot them up out of there,” Wrighster added.
The SEC has produced a loyalty agreement, according to an anonymous source, reported the Knoxville News Sentinel. Failure to comply has a chance of the Volunteers getting the boot from the SEC. This is by far the harshest decision to come in this NIL era
That’s not all. “They want schools to give up their right to sue,” Wrighster highlighted. Essentially, if these schools are unhappy with some rules of the NCAA, they lose their right to take the NCAA to court. Tennessee is now caught in a major tug-of-war. The state law will protect Tennessee and other state colleges if lawsuits regarding NIL are brought forward. Instead, in a major power move, it dumps the blame on the NCAA, keeping the record of the universities clean.
Tennessee is pushing for the law as a measure to cover their bases in the event of the House settlement system failing. They want to approve NIL deals even if the NCAA’s clearinghouse blocks them and do not want to be part of antitrust lawsuits, which is an expected outcome of the enactment of the settlement. In simple words, Tennessee stands to have free rein once again over NIL under the state law. But this will be happening without an SEC ticket in the picture. Tennessee has been part of the conference since 1932. Will it risk the erasure of a key part of its history to evade NIL restrictions?
Tennessee may also have the upper hand in such a case, because the NCAA was the party that fell to its knees every time they faced off against each other.
Where is the NCAA when you need it to act?
Wrighster also hinted at one key aspect. “This isn’t just about Tennessee. It’s about whether the NCAA still has any real power left,” he said. In 2025, the Vols forced the NCAA to agree to a settlement that safeguarded students’ NIL provisions during their recruitment and prevented the NCAA from re-enacting its ban on NIL. In 2023, the state’s attorney general intervened and warned the NCAA against sanctioning UT with a postseason ban during the Jeremy Pruitt case. The NCAA agreed.
Some experts have called out the fallacy of the NCAA, when such big players can cause a major shift in college football regardless of the body’s existence. Paul Finebaum even called it the time of death for the NCAA. “It may still be in existence. We’re still having tournaments, such as the Women’s World Series and the Men’s Baseball Tournament, but the NCAA, as we know it, is gone. They literally have no jurisdiction whatsoever, other than to be tournament directors,” he added at a Sportscenter appearance.
The SEC would not look like the SEC if Josh Heupel and Tennessee get written off. The Vols’ top brass have weighed heavily on the NCAA in the past. But this time, they’re not fighting a regulatory body. Their very home is now threatening to uproot them from it if they don’t play by house rules. Will the Volunteers relent or risk going to the point of no return?
The post Historic College Football Program Could Get Kicked Out of SEC Over New NIL Law appeared first on EssentiallySports.
