Texas’ trip to LSU could be in jeopardy before the Longhorns even get to Baton Rouge.
The latest twist in the SEC’s eligibility fight has put LSU at the center of a growing standoff, with the conference and its schools weighing what to do if the Tigers continue moving forward with plans to add former pro athletes. According to a report from Yahoo Sports, SEC members are considering “extreme steps over LSU's plan to sign former pro athletes, including potential expulsion, competition boycott and federal lawsuit,” as LSU head coach Lane Kiffin and Tigers basketball coach Will Wade keep pushing ahead.
The SEC has already ruled that any player who signed a contract at the next level - whether in the NFL, NBA, WNBA or elsewhere - cannot return to college. LSU, at least initially, appeared ready to challenge that stance.
A U.S. Circuit Court judge out of Dallas later signed an order saying neither the SEC nor the NCAA could bar an athlete from returning to college, but that ruling did not settle the matter inside the conference.
The SEC pushed back and urged Kiffin not to add former NFL players to his roster.
Kiffin’s public stance left some room for interpretation. He told ESPN that if a court ruled he could not do it, he would not. But he never directly said he would follow the conference’s order.
That uncertainty has created a possible opening for Texas. The Longhorns are scheduled to play at LSU on Saturday, Nov. 14, but if SEC school leaders and university officials vote to expel LSU this season, or unanimously decide to boycott their games against the Tigers, Texas could end up avoiding the road trip altogether.
A boycotted game would likely count as a forfeit, which would go down as a loss on the team’s record. Even so, that kind of loss would probably look a whole lot better to the College Football Playoff committee than a trip to Death Valley ending in a lopsided defeat.
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian also weighed in just hours before the Yahoo Sports report surfaced, saying he believes bringing back a former professional player simply to cut someone who has been with the team for the past “nine months” would be “morally wrong.”
Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported that SEC presidents and athletic directors may not even be fully clear on what authority they actually have in this situation. Still, one school staff member told the outlet that the “risk is enormous for LSU” if Kiffin does not change course.
For now, the conference’s patience appears to be wearing thin, and LSU’s stand could end up reshaping the rest of Texas’ season before the teams ever meet.
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