It’s reported that former Notre Dame quarterback Malik Zaire wants to spend his final season of eligibility at Florida. But, heading into this week's SEC meetings, his fate could well rest in the hands of Florida's conference rivals.

Zaire is a graduate transfer and therefore eligible to transfer anywhere with immediate eligibility. However, his seemingly preferred Gainesville destination comes with a caveat. The SEC requires schools to meet a certain academic threshold for graduate transfers, and Florida is currently under penalty for violating that bylaw.

(You can read the rule restricting Florida below)



The student-athlete must earn all possible APR points applicable for each term of enrollment. If the student-athlete does not earn all possible APR points, the certifying institution may not use the SEC Bylaw 14.1.15.1 graduate student exception in the particular sport for three years following the student-athlete’s first date of initial full-time enrollment at the certifying institution

Florida added Mason Halter and Anthony Harrell as graduate transfers in 2015, but the pair did not meet the required academic standards. Because of that, the Gators endured the three-year penalty that restricts them from adding graduate transfers.

Therefore, Zaire is currently prohibited from transferring to Florida.

However, one of the many items on the SEC’s docket this week in meetings that will start Tuesday is a reexamination of its graduate transfer policies. There is a push by many in the conference to loosen its graduate transfer restrictions, and SEC commissioner Greg Sankey publicly stated he's open to the possibility.

“This will be the first meaningful conversation we’ve had since the proliferation of graduate transfers has happened nationally,” Sankey told the Associated Press last week. “I expect our membership to have a pretty meaningful conversation about the right perspective on graduate transfers entering the SEC from outside and then the topic of inter-conference transfers.

“A football player that enrolls as a graduate student and never goes to class, that’s not healthy.”

If the SEC decides to alter its graduate transfer policies it would require a majority vote, which means Florida’s hopes of landing Zaire rest on its competitors unless Zaire is granted an exemption.

In essence, a Georgia or Tennessee could be faced with a vote to allow or prevent Zaire from joining a fellow SEC East contender. The question comes down to potential conference-wide long-term gains versus the short-term benefit rivals would knowingly allow Florida to gain by loosing the conference's graduate transfer language.

Zaire, who has not publicly narrowed his list, is widely thought to be down to Florida and Texas.

At Florida, Zaire will have the opportunity to compete for the starting job against redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks. Texas, on the other hand, is looking to add a third scholarship quarterback for depth purposes behind likely starter Shane Buechele.

Zaire, who’s made just three career starts, flashed at Notre Dame in short windows of play. But his career was derailed by both injuries and the quality of competition within the Irish’s quarterback room – he sat behind Everett Golson and Deshone Kizer in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

Florida is looking for an immediate upgrade at quarterback after the SEC East champions employed the conference's third-worst offense a season ago in terms of points per game.