Paul Finebaum thinks college football may have found its newest villain, and LSU is right in the middle of it.
With Week 1 around the corner, the sport is getting ready for the usual Saturday pageantry. But beneath that familiar buzz, the eligibility fight that has been building all offseason is still hanging over everything. LSU jumped into the fray after a temporary restraining order from a Louisiana judge opened the door, creating a first-of-its-kind scenario in college football: former NFL players potentially returning to the college game.
Lane Kiffin has been the loudest face of the pushback, especially as the SEC has tried to block two former NFL players from landing on his roster. That has already drawn plenty of attention, but Finebaum believes the real heat should also be aimed at LSU’s leadership.
“Lane Kiffin is just a pawn in all of this. He’s the villain, and we all know, but to me, the administration at LSU is completely in question here.
You’ve got a president at LSU who votes with the SEC on Tuesday, and then I’m sure after getting called from the governor he abstains, he still hasn’t said, ‘I’m against this SEC policy.’ You’ve got a president at LSU who votes with the SEC on Tuesday … I’m sure after getting called from the governor, he abstains.
He still hasn’t said, ‘I’m against this SEC policy.'” Finebaum said on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.
The Tigers’ move has turned them into the center of a much bigger argument about how college football handles eligibility once a player has already used it up and moved on to the pros. The SEC has been trying to keep its eligibility rules consistent, but recent court decisions have made that a tougher job.
Now the conference is expected to challenge this ruling as hard as it can.
That leaves LSU in a strange and very public spot. The program is leaning into a legal opening that could reshape the way college football treats former professional players. Kiffin’s tendency to stir the pot makes him an easy target, but Finebaum’s comments point just as much at LSU’s administration and its ties to the SEC.
For now, LSU has stepped into the spotlight willingly. Whether that makes Kiffin and the Tigers the sport’s new villains will depend on how this eligibility battle plays out.
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