LSU backed away from the brink with the SEC, but the tension isn’t gone.
For two weeks, the league and the Tigers were locked in a legal standoff over two former NFL players seeking a fifth year of eligibility at LSU this fall. That fight reached a temporary pause when LSU President Wade Rousse sent a letter saying the school would not keep roster spots open for Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris. In response, the SEC pulled discussion of LSU’s possible membership termination from the agenda for Thursday’s meeting of league presidents and chancellors.
That doesn’t mean the air has cleared.
The confrontation had already turned into a full-on public barking match, with LSU, Lane Kiffin, the players’ attorney and Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry all taking shots once East Baton Rouge Parish Judge William Jorden granted the preliminary injunction that allowed Wright and Harris to be rostered by LSU. The court order gave LSU room to keep pushing, and the school leaned into it with a lot of noise and not much restraint.
The SEC, though, was never the side with the smaller bark. Commissioner Greg Sankey held the stronger hand, and LSU was the one operating inside the league’s house. The Tigers eventually found the exit and took it, especially once expulsion suddenly became a real possibility.
Even with that immediate threat off the table, LSU may not be out of the woods. There are still more court dates ahead, and the Wednesday hearing in Birmingham that could have cleared the way for the SEC to vote on expulsion was postponed by District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon. The league, meanwhile, still appears intent on making its point.
The fight may be separated for now, but it doesn’t feel finished.
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