SEC leaders are set to gather Thursday to weigh a move that would shake up the conference’s legal fight with LSU, with an amended federal filing saying presidents and chancellors will consider terminating the school’s membership.
The filing, submitted Tuesday, says that would take a two-thirds vote. ESPN reported the SEC does not expect to actually expel LSU, and that the point of the filing appears to be establishing the league’s authority to govern membership and enforce its rules while the court battle plays out.
The conference is also asking a federal judge in Alabama to stop Louisiana officials and others from blocking the meeting or interfering with whatever decision comes out of it.
The SEC says the Thursday meeting will go forward “whether LSU renounces its intention to roster and play professional players on its football team, or not.”
Last Friday, the presidents and chancellors of the SEC’s other 15 schools met informally without LSU President Wade Rousse. No official punishment came out of that gathering, but the conference says the group reached a consensus that LSU’s continued membership could run against SEC principles.
In the filing, the SEC accuses LSU of a “demonstrated lack of institutional control,” including what it calls a “complete lack of control” over Lane Kiffin.
The legal dispute traces back to a Baton Rouge judge last week extending protections for athletes challenging NCAA and SEC eligibility rules. Former Ole Miss players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, who have been tied to LSU, both testified at that hearing. Each said he made seven figures in NIL money in college but was not paid by the NFL team he later signed with.
LSU did not add Wright or Harris to its roster before Saturday’s game against Clemson. Instead, the school submitted a 103-player roster with two spots left open. Tuesday’s filing says LSU intentionally left those openings available so former professional players could be added later.
During LSU’s win over Clemson, Kiffin joked in a halftime interview, “Imagine if we had pro players.”
The amended complaint also adds Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and individual LSU Board of Supervisors members as defendants in their official capacities. The SEC points to Murrill’s role in last week’s Baton Rouge case and her public criticism of the conference, including her description of its federal lawsuit as “legal garbage.” The league says Louisiana officials have tried to interfere with the SEC’s First Amendment rights.
In Other News...
Mike Elko Just Twisted The Knife In LSUs SEC Drama
LSUs recent flirtation with adding former NFL players DaeQuan Weight and Zxavian Harris turned into a full-on conference headache after the pair received injunctions from the state of Louisiana to play. The SEC answered with a federal suit against LSU and Lane Kiffin, and the possibility of punishment even included talk of expulsion before LSU backed away and chose not to add the players.
From Texas A&M, Mike Elko didnt let the moment pass quietly. He framed the whole mess in the language of a disciplinary showdown, likening it to a parent dealing with a child, a comparison that only added more heat to a situation that was already making LSU a central figure in SEC tension. For a league that thrives on conflict, this was the kind of comment that kept the story humming even after the immediate roster decision was made. [Read more 🡒]
LSUs SEC Clash Just Took A Strange New Turn
The SECs latest headache around LSU has had plenty of moving parts, and Lane Kiffins program has been right in the middle of it. After the school added NFL players to its roster under a temporary restraining order that gave certain athletes an extra year of eligibility, the conference reacted strongly enough to raise the possibility of taking LSU out of the league altogether over concerns about institutional control.
Now the temperature appears to be coming down. The SEC has backed off its vote, and the leagues debate has shifted from punishment to patience. Texas A&M coach Mike Elko even framed the whole episode like a parent handing down discipline before everyone calms down, which at least suggests the confrontation is moving toward resolution, even if the full fallout is still being sorted out. [Read more 🡒]
LSU Roster Decision Just Escalated Into A Bigger SEC Fight
LSUs 2026 roster picture already had a strange wrinkle, and now it has turned into something bigger than a simple personnel note. Commitments DaeQuan Wright and Zxavian Harris, both former Ole Miss players, were left off the Tigers 2026 roster after SEC commissioner Greg Sankeys demands landed in the middle of an ongoing eligibility dispute that has been working its way through the courts.
Wright and Harris are part of a lawsuit challenging NCAA eligibility rule changes, and they have already been granted a preliminary injunction that allows them to play in 2026. Their legal representatives have signaled that more action could follow against both the NCAA and the SEC, including the possibility of monetary damages tied to the conferences enforcement moves, which keeps LSU in the crosshairs of a fight that is still far from settled. [Read more 🡒]