SEC threatens to boot LSU out of the conference this week, court filing says

By Kyle Feldscher, CNN

(CNN) — The Southeastern Conference will meet on Thursday to determine whether to expel Louisiana State University out of the high-profile conference as the fight over the Tigers’ potential use of former professional football players escalates.

In a federal court filing, the conference said it will meet to “decide whether to terminate Louisiana State University as an SEC member institution.”

The filing Tuesday, an amendment to its lawsuit against the university and key leadership, including head football coach Lane Kiffin, the conference is asking the court in part to rule “that the First Amendment protects the Conference’s right to disassociate from LSU, Defendants, and their conduct.”

The filing represents a dramatic escalation in the showdown between the conference and one of its founding members. A back-and-forth legal battle over whether athletes who graduated high school in 2022 would be allowed a fifth year of eligibility has created chaos as schools and conferences deal with the fallout. Some state courts, including in Louisiana, paved the way for those athletes to play another year in college – and that opened the door for some athletes who had left school to pursue a professional career to return to the college game.

While many schools have shied away from letting former pros play for their teams, the Tigers have decided to embrace the chaos.

LSU and the SEC have been at odds over what the conference called a “deliberate and coordinated campaign to recruit professional athletes” to the school’s football team. The SEC has ruled it is against conference rules to have former professional players on the rosters of member universities’ teams.

A Louisiana court ruled last week that the school could allow Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris to play on the Tigers’ football team despite both players having spent time in NFL training camps over the summer. Both players are now enrolled at LSU but Kiffin left them off his roster for Saturday’s blowout win over Clemson.

In the filing, the SEC said it has “longstanding provisions that prohibit individuals who have entered a professional draft, signed professional contracts, or been rostered on a professional athletics team from returning to compete in college athletics (the “Professionalism Rules”). These rules are built upon an essential principle: college athletics are reserved for students who are actively pursuing an education while competing for their universities.”

According to the filing, LSU has left two roster spots open for Wright and Harris and have “indicated their intent to place those athletes on LSU’s official football roster.”

“Defendants have continued their public efforts to recruit professional athletes and eventually allow them to participate in official team activities in direct defiance of the Professionalism Rules,” the filing stated. “This conduct is detrimental to the Conference and contrary to its core purpose. Defendants’ conduct has already harmed the Conference and threatens to cause further substantial harm if not curbed.”

In a statement, the SEC added it is asking the court for a temporary restraining order that would allow the conference to enforce its own rules after the Louisiana court blocked it from enforcing the rule against former professional players being available to play.

“The SEC and its member universities have the right to establish, through agreed-upon governance procedures, the rules under which they voluntarily compete and to expect those rules to be followed. A commitment to those rules, and to the core principles of the Southeastern Conference, is an essential element of SEC membership,” the statement read.

“Today’s filing is necessary to defend that right and preserve the Conference’s ability to govern competition among its members.”

CNN has reached out to LSU for comment.

Included in Tuesday’s legal filing was a declaration from SEC commissioner Greg Sankey, who referenced a meeting that took place Friday with the 15 other SEC university presidents or chancellors without LSU present.

In the filing, Sankey said the “consensus” from that group “was and continues to be that LSU’s continued membership in the Conference would be inconsistent with the publicly stated values and principles of the Conference and its remaining member institutions” – even if LSU opts not to include those players the conference deems ineligible on the team’s football roster.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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