Despite not rostering those 2 players who signed NFL contracts, LSU is still not completely safe. Lane Kiffin has been put in his place as the SEC now knows it has the upper hand. But what will they do with this power?
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As per reports, they are not doing anything outright just now. After the Thursday meeting of the presidents and chancellors of all 16 members, at least the threat of expulsion has been put on hold.
“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.”
LSU fans can breathe a sigh of relief. But it isn’t over just yet as there could be more than what meets the eye when it comes to this vague statement put out by the SEC. Speaking with Fox News, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry’s looked into the legal structure of the conference itself, which begs the question whether SEC even has the ability to expel one of its members or not.
“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 is technically correct on this specific constitutional principle. Since public universities like LSU, Alabama, or Florida are state institutions, it is correct that they do not possess First Amendment rights. This means that a state entity cannot claim its freedom of speech or association is being violated by another state entity. But there is a flaw in his logic.
The SEC’s argument is rooted in breach of contract, not pure constitutional rights. When LSU signed up for the SEC, it entered a private pact. If a member breaks the bylaws (such as by trying to roster ineligible players), the conference argues it has the right to enforce its internal rules. These can include penalties or expulsion, regardless of whether the schools are public or private. But that does not mean expulsion of a member is not without its hurdles.
Removing a member might have been easier when the SEC was created in 1932. College sports, however, looks nothing like the way it did back then. Media rights agreements, NIL issues, and athlete lawsuits could turn an expulsion into a much bigger legal headache. Governor Landry further went on and rejected the idea that LSU was even responsible for creating the current legal mess.
“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 immediate crisis may have cooled down, it is still far from over. Though there is no threat of expulsion, there might still be some other form of punishment underway according to analysts.
According to a USA Today article by John Brice on September 10, some of the conference leaders do believe that punishment remains necessary. “My biggest thing is, if you’re (LSU’s administration) how can you ever fix this?” said an anonymous senior SEC football administrator. “You’ve lost control and harmed your reputation. Same for the president (Wade Rousse). I’ve talked to a couple of other ADs. I hope they’ll suspend Lane. If not, he won’t feel it and won’t care.”
The SEC’s proposed rule penalties include up to half-season suspensions for head coaches who attempt to bypass conference compliance rules. The conference has also outlined their authority to levy fines which can add up to 50% of an athletic department’s specific sport budget against a school that violates collective bylaws.
Baton Rouge spent over $50 million on football in the 2024-25 fiscal year. This means LSU can be facing significant fines if the SEC wins their court battle.
It gets worse as this issue extends beyond football. Analysts point out that LSU men’s basketball coach Will Wade has also explored adding former professional players, leading to potential wide-reaching athletic department compliance penalties.
The History of Expulsion
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.
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.