The SEC vs. the world has been a long-running theme in college football. This year, however, the SEC is at war with itself.
According to On3’s Pete Nakos, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) has filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama against Louisiana State University (LSU) and its newly minted head football coach, Lane Kiffin.
The named defendants in the suit are LSU President Wade Rousse and Athletic Director Verge Ausberry.
The suit stems from LSU’s overt efforts to recruit former NFL players whom a judge cleared to return to college football for an extra year of eligibility.
Specifically, the suit charges LSU and Kiffin with conducting “an orchestrated campaign to recruit professional athletes to join LSU’s football roster for the 2026-27 season.”
As Nakos explains, “The news comes the same day as a preliminary injunction hearing in Baton Rouge, where the judge is expected to decide whether the temporary restraining order would remain in place until a trial date is set. If the injunction is granted, it would give LSU legal standing to play former Ole Miss and NFL players Zxavian Harris and Dae’Quan Wright. LSU opens the 2026 season on Saturday night in a top-25 matchup against Clemson.
“In its complaint, the SEC requests the court ‘enter a preliminary and permanent injunction prohibiting Defendants from violating the Conference’s First Amendment rights by compelling the Conference to associate with conduct that is contrary to the Conference’s purpose and mission.’”
The SEC’s complaint states, “Defendants waged a deliberate and coordinated campaign to recruit professional athletes to play football for LSU during the 2026-27 season, including players who had signed NFL contracts with the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.”
At issue is the reaction of some members of the class of 2022 to the NCAA’s recently passed age-based eligibility model. A suit filed by players in a Colorado court argued that the new NCAA model should grant them a fifth year of eligibility, arguing the new rule excluded them from returning for the 2026-27 academic year.
“Despite the SEC’s longstanding rules prohibiting professional athletes from returning to college athletics, Defendants saw this as an opportunity to be exploited,” the suit states. “They began an orchestrated campaign to recruit professional athletes to join LSU’s football roster for the 2026-27 season.”
SEC administrators made their feelings on the subject clear last week when they resoundingly voted against allowing any players who had signed a contract with or auditioned for an NFL team to return to play for a conference school. Other conferences, such as the Big 12 and Big 10, have passed similar measures.
Only LSU seems to have aggressively pursued the recruitment of such players in defiance of their conference’s clear-cut wishes.
“Defendants have continued their campaign to engage in willful efforts to recruit and soon roster professional athletes in direct defiance of the Professionalism Rules,” the SEC wrote in Thursday’s complaint. “This conduct is detrimental to the Conference and contrary to its core purpose. Defendants’ conduct has already harmed the Conference and threatens to cause further substantial harm if not curbed.”
However, the matter is addressed; there is some urgency, given that LSU plays its first game of the season on Saturday and SEC rosters must be finalized and sent to the league 24 hours before kickoff.