The SEC’s threat to expel LSU appears to have faded, at least for now. After several days of legal drama and escalating tension over Lane Kiffin’s roster, the conference’s presidents and chancellors met Thursday. It ended without announcing the expulsion punishment for LSU.
Ross Dellenger reported that LSU has backed away from its dispute with the SEC over signing players who had previously been on NFL preseason rosters. That move appears to have helped LSU avoid the conference’s most extreme punishment, although the Tigers could still face sanctions. The SEC’s statement after Thursday’s meeting didn’t offer much clarity.
“The presidents and chancellors of the Southeastern Conference met Thursday by videoconference to discuss recent matters involving conference expectations and responsibilities,” the league said. “Those discussions will continue as the conference and its member universities work toward an appropriate resolution.”
So, no expulsion. But also no clean ending for Lane Kiffin’s program. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has been openly critical of the SEC throughout the dispute. Speaking with Fox News, he questioned the legal structure of the SEC, noting that 15 of its 16 member schools are public universities.
“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “And I’m going to tell you, it’s extremely dangerous for Greg Sankey and them to continue this. Why? Because the SEC is not a true organization in a legal sense. It’s not a corporation, and it’s not an LLC. It’s not a juridical person. It’s an affiliation of 16 universities, of which, 15 of the 16 universities are public universities. That means they are government universities. Those government universities don’t get a First Amendment right. That’s important to understand.”
Landry argued that removing a member might have been easier when the SEC was created in 1932. College sports, however, look nothing like they did then. Media rights agreements, NIL issues, and athlete lawsuits could turn an expulsion into a much bigger legal headache, he said. He also rejected the idea that LSU was responsible for creating the legal mess.
To see just how extreme this fight got, you have to look back at SEC history. The conference has literally never kicked out a member school in its entire existence. When schools like Georgia Tech or Tulane walked away back in the 1960s, they left on their own terms over internal disputes.
The only time modern college sports saw a conference forcibly throw out a program was when the Big East ejected Temple back in 2004, and that was over football performance, not legal warfare. For the SEC to pull out an expulsion hammer against a flagship brand like LSU shows how desperate the league was to stop players from taking control.
“Remember, LSU didn’t create the litigation in Louisiana,” he added. “LSU did not create the litigation in Alabama. The SEC did. The players who wanted to play created the litigation in Louisiana. Our university has been stuck in the middle of this, and yet the SEC tries to villainize LSU.”
The SEC’s pressure on LSU escalated earlier this week when the conference amended its federal lawsuit and asked a judge in Alabama to confirm its authority to discipline the Tigers. That included the possibility of terminating LSU’s membership through a two-thirds vote. The dispute centered on LSU’s efforts to roster former college players who received additional eligibility through a court order after spending time in NFL preseason camps.
Lane Kiffin ultimately decided not to put Zxavian Harris or Dae’Quan Wright on the roster for the season opener. LSU then went a step further. President Wade Rousse informed Sankey that the Tigers did not plan to roster either player during the season. They later added EDGE Gabriel Reliford and CB Aidan Andling, filling out their 105-player roster. That retreat may have changed the temperature around the dispute.
Still, LSU is not completely out of the woods. The SEC has not ruled out other disciplinary action, and the conference’s executive committee is expected to continue discussing the matter.