The SEC has scheduled a meeting to decide whether to expel Louisiana State University (LSU).
The meeting between the conference’s presidents and chancellors will occur on Thursday to decide the fate of one of its biggest brands, ESPN reports.
Currently, the SEC and LSU are in a legal fight over eligibility rules that stop professional players from returning to college athletics.
The SEC is asking for a temporary restraining order before the meeting to prevent LSU from trying to block it, according to ESPN.
In its lawsuit, the SEC updated a court filing to say that “[f]orced association with a member whose conduct is antithetical to the SEC’s mission and core values violates the Conference’s fundamental First Amendment rights,” according to CBS Sports.
“LSU has rejected those core values repeatedly and publicly. An injunction is necessary to prevent the irreparable harm that the SEC will suffer if it cannot remove a member to avoid association of the Conference’s name, brand, championships, and media properties with the conduct and views that the Conference and its member institutions have condemned for decades,” the filing adds.
In a statement to ESPN, SEC said the conference and “its member universities have the right to establish, through agreed-upon governance procedures, the rules under which they voluntarily compete and to expect those rules to be followed.”
“A commitment to those rules, and to the core principles of the Southeastern Conference, is an essential element of SEC membership,” the SEC added.
The legal dispute between the SEC and LSU involves the eligibility of Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, who signed with NFL teams and are attempting to return to college football.
Wright signed with the Cleveland Browns and Harris signed with the New Orleans Saints, but both players were cut. Neither Wright nor Harris remained with their respective team through the NFL’s final-roster cuts.
Wright, a tight end, and Harris, a defensive tackle, played at Ole Miss under current LSU head coach Lane Kiffin. Both players helped the Rebels reach the College Football Playoff semifinals before losing to the University of Miami.
In June, the NCAA changed its eligibility rule to allow college athletes to compete in five seasons over a five-year eligibility period.
Since the NCAA issued the new eligibility rule, it has faced litigation. On July 31st, a Colorado federal judge issued a preliminary order allowing athletes from the 2022 high school recruiting class to qualify for another season under the new rule.
The NCAA appealed the judge’s ruling and, on August 21st, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver issued a stay, which restored the NCAA’s eligibility rule while the appeal proceeds.
Less than a week after the appeals court’s decision, the SEC passed a new eligibility policy that prevents athletes who have signed a professional contract or appeared on a professional roster from returning to play in the conference. LSU was the only school that abstained from voting.
On September 3rd, a Louisiana judge issued a separate preliminary injunction blocking the NCAA and SEC from enforcing their eligibility rules.
Wright, Harris, and other athletes filed the lawsuit on August 19th challenging the NCAA’s eligibility rules. They amended the lawsuit on August 27th to add the SEC after the conference passed its eligibility rules.
The Louisiana judge’s ruling prevents the NCAA and SEC from declaring athletes covered by the case ineligible and penalizing schools that roster them while the case remains ongoing.
With this legal ruling, Wright and Harris, who were both part of the 2022 high school recruiting class, still have the potential to play for LSU, which has two current open roster spots. ESPN reported both players are on campus practicing with the team.
The SEC filed its lawsuit against LSU earlier that same day, before the Louisiana judge issued the ruling.
Despite not having these two players, LSU thrashed Clemson University 51-10 in its opening game of the college football season. Kiffin, during a halftime interview, told ESPN reporter Holly Rowe, “Imagine if we had pro players.”
LSU was beating Clemson 31-3 at the time.
After the game, Kiffin doubled down on his comments, telling media members his job was “not to please” them and “worry about what [they’re] going to write.”
“My job is what I believe is right, and I believe we’re fighting for what was right for those kids,” Kiffin explained.
“I’m not going to get into all the reasons, but that’s what I believe. And so many people don’t like that, but they don’t understand that,” he added.
In the SEC’s updated complaint, ESPN reported the conference alleged Kiffin’s statements stood “‘in sharp contrast to the silence by the President and Athletic Director of LSU’ and that ‘they confirm the lack of institutional control over the athletics program at LSU that is required by Article 6 of the SEC Constitution and by the remaining provisions of the Constitution and Bylaws.’”
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
Photo “LSU Players” by Tammy Anthony Baker. CC BY 2.0.
