Former Tennessee Vols DL Tyler Baron may have found a transfer portal loophole

Former Tennessee Vols defensive lineman Tyler Baron entered the NCAA transfer portal this week for the second time this offseason. 

Baron initially committed to Ole Miss after entering the the transfer portal in December. 

The former Vol, who spent the first four seasons of his collegiate career at Tennessee, didn't stay in Oxford long, eventually transferring to Louisville, where he went through spring practice with the Cardinals. 

Baron's decision to re-enter the NCAA transfer portal after leaving the SEC brings up an interesting scenario. 

Typically, SEC players who enter the NCAA transfer portal during the spring window in April aren't eligible to transfer to another SEC program. 

Baron finished the 2023 season as an SEC player before initially transferring to an SEC school in December. But he eventually enrolled at an ACC school. 

So is Baron eligible to transfer to an SEC school this time around? 

Here's what 247Sports' Chris Hummer and Matt Zenitz had to say this week about the situation. 

From 247Sports: There are two important things to note with Baron. One, there has been some talk in his initial SEC agreement, which binds a transfer to a single SEC school, would lock him into only Ole Miss. But sources have told 247Sports that it gets canceled when he enrolls elsewhere. So all SEC programs are on the table for him.

So it sounds like if Baron would've stuck at Ole Miss through spring practice, he wouldn't be eligible to transfer to an SEC school during the current spring transfer window. But because Baron enrolled at Louisville for spring practice, it means he can now transfer to any SEC program. 

There have been rumors connecting Baron to Ole Miss and Miami after re-entering the transfer portal. 

LSU is also in the market for a transfer defensive lineman. And thanks to the transfer portal loophole that Baron discovered (whether or not that was an inadvertent discovery on Baron's part is unclear), Baton Rouge could be an option for the former four-star recruit.