Story by
LSU Wins Strange Court Fight With SEC
- Story by
- LSU Wins Strange Court Fight With SEC
LSU Wins Strange Court Fight With SEC
College football's strangest offseason storyline collided with reality this week in Louisiana, where a judge began sorting out who actually has standing to challenge the NCAA's eligibility rules — and, by extension, whether LSU can suit up two former NFL players over the SEC's objections.
The timing could hardly be tighter: LSU submits its 105-man roster Sept. 4, one day before hosting Clemson to open the 2026 season.
Advertisement
On Sept. 3, a judge ruled that the former NFL players are eligible.
An Initial Procedural Win for the SEC, Not the Whole War
Judge William Jorden of Louisiana's 19th Judicial District Court opened Thursday's hearing by ruling in the SEC's favor on a narrow but consequential question, according to a report from WAFB .
Of the 44 athletes originally suing over their eligibility, Jorden agreed that only seven had any real connection to the SEC and could keep pursuing claims against the conference itself.
Everyone else, the judge found, had no direct tie to the league and no business being part of that piece of the case.
Advertisement
Two of those seven matter enormously for Saturday: former Ole Miss tight end Dae'Quan Wright and former Ole Miss defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, both of whom briefly appeared on NFL rosters this summer before being let go.
Two Ole Miss Castoffs at the Center of a Conference Crisis
Wright signed with the Philadelphia Eagles and later joined the Cleveland Browns' camp, who waived him; Harris signed with the New Orleans Saints, who also cut him loose.
Both played for Kiffin at Ole Miss last season, and both now want to follow him to LSU under a new age-based eligibility rule the NCAA adopted last year, one they argue entitles them to a fifth season.
Advertisement
The SEC's objection was never really about eligibility math. It's about players who already got paid to play football trying to walk back into a sport still built, at least nominally, on amateur competition.
Why the SEC Drew a Hard Line
Presidents and chancellors across the conference voted 15-0 in late August to bar athletes who signed professional contracts or were rostered by an NFL, NBA or WNBA team from competing in the SEC — with the lone holdout being LSU itself, which abstained.
The rule gives Commissioner Greg Sankey authority to suspend a head coach for up to half a season and fine a program as much as 50% of its athletic operating budget.
Advertisement
The league has kept defending that authority in court even while temporarily standing down. "The order entered against the SEC and Commissioner Sankey is a temporary restraining order, not a final ruling on the merits," the conference said in a statement provided to CBS Sports .
State Attorneys General Pile On
The dispute has since spilled well outside the conference office. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr sent Sankey a letter Wednesday urging the SEC to consider every option available, up to expelling LSU outright, arguing in comments to ESPN that "college athletics are for college athletes only."
South Carolina's attorney general echoed the sentiment publicly the same day. It's an unusual escalation for what began as a conference roster dispute, and it shows how far this fight has traveled beyond Baton Rouge.
Advertisement
Kiffin's Bet, and a Clock That Won't Stop
Kiffin has said repeatedly that he'll follow whatever the SEC ultimately decides, but he's also made clear he asked his own locker room first.
He told Athlon Sports that when he polled his leadership council on adding the players, the answer was simple: "If they can help us win, bring them."
Whether he actually gets that chance now comes down to a roster deadline landing hours before kickoff, with the larger eligibility question still working through the legal system.
Sources
Related: Fantasy Football Cheat Sheet 2026: Top 300 Draft Player Rankings
Advertisement
This story was originally published by Lindys Sports on Sep 4, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add Lindys Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
