While Lane Kiffin’s LSU is dealing with on-field issues after two losses, the troubles with the SEC haven’t yet dialed down. The conference has now cited LSU’s basketball program in its lawsuit against the school regarding recruiting former pro players.
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The SEC is demanding a legally binding commitment from LSU’s hierarchy to avoid facing localized injunctions. Immediately after the development, Louisiana’s Attorney General has come in LSU’s defense and publicly targeted SEC commissioner Greg Sankey.
“If Sankey wants to try and prompt a vote, this has raised a lot of questions for me,” Louisiana AG Liz Murrill said to 104.5 ESPN on October 14. “How this membership is supposed to operate.”
“Because, to the best of my knowledge, Wade Rousse has participated in good faith on the phone calls that have been official SEC membership calls. They have done everything in good faith.”
The dispute began after the NCAA introduced a new five-year eligibility framework. Dae’Quan Wright, Harris, and former LSU edge rusher Jack Pyburn signed professional contracts after their college eligibility appeared to run out under the previous rules.
The new rule gave them a route back to college football, and all three looked to return to LSU under Lane Kiffin. The players took the dispute to court. East Baton Rouge Parish Judge William Jorden granted a preliminary injunction.
That stopped the SEC from applying its ban on Wright, Harris, and other former professionals returning to college football rosters. The conference then voted unanimously to keep former professional players off college rosters.
LSU was among the schools that backed the ban, despite having players caught up in the legal fight. Despite the vote, LSU head coach Lane Kiffin publicly vowed to include the players on his roster, which continued the dispute.
The SEC filed a federal lawsuit against LSU officials and Lane Kiffin in the Northern District of Alabama on September 3. The conference argued that LSU’s decision to recruit former professionals undermined its authority to set and enforce its own rules.
It asked the court to allow it to impose penalties, including fines, suspensions, and loss of voting rights. The dispute immediately drew sharp reactions throughout college football. Dabo Swinney, for instance, went a step further.
“We have no rules. There’s no governance. It’s a joke,” Swinney said, questioning how teams were supposed to compete under a system that allowed players with professional contracts to return to college football.
On September 8, the SEC expanded its lawsuit to name Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and the LSU Board of Supervisors. The conference also asked the court to allow it to hold a meeting in which SEC presidents could vote on LSU’s future.
If two-thirds of the members backed the move, the school could face expulsion from the conference. LSU moved to calm the dispute before it reached a vote on expulsion. President Wade Rousse told Greg Sankey that Wright and Harris would not be added to the roster, and Kiffin completed his 105-player roster without them.
When SEC presidents met on September 10, they took no vote on expelling LSU and announced no immediate penalties. The conference, however, kept its federal lawsuit in place. Then came Liz Murrill’s political leverage against Greg Sankey.
Once Wright and Harris were left off the roster, LSU and Louisiana officials turned their attention to the SEC’s lawsuit. Attorney General Liz Murrill and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise pushed back against the SEC.
They reportedly used their influence in Washington to put pressure on the conference. LSU also asked the court to dismiss the case, while both sides explored a possible settlement in private.
“I mean, we are a member of the conference,” Murrill said about the SEC’s September 10 meeting. “They aren’t supposed to have secret meetings without us and talk about us like there are a bunch of middle school girls who are trying to kick us out of the locker room.”
The SEC has refused to settle the dispute and pushed back against LSU’s request to dismiss the case. In its response, the conference said it was “deeply disappointed” and warned that LSU remained a “very real threat” to its ability to enforce its own rules.
The SEC has also brought LSU’s men’s basketball program into the case. It pointed to coach Will Wade’s reported interest in former NBA G League player RJ Luis as another example of what it sees as LSU’s willingness to challenge conference rules.
Wade Rousse said on October 13 that Luis was not on LSU’s roster and that the program would follow SEC policy. But in a filing the next day, the conference argued that such assurances were not enough.
It wants LSU’s leadership to make a binding legal commitment that the SEC can enforce its rules across all sports, even when state-level court orders stand in the way. Murrill sees it as an adamant attempt to target LSU.
“I mean it’s just stupid, and I don’t really understand what Greg Sankey is doing,” Liz Murrill said. “The lawsuit could be dismissed. They’re the ones that filed it. They should just go. Dismiss the lawsuit. There was never a claim to begin with.”
For now, as per the court docket, LSU and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill have until October 20, 2026, to respond to the SEC’s latest arguments in the federal case in Alabama.