SEC Sues LSU as Judge Clears Former NFL Players to Return to College Football

The Southeastern Conference has sued LSU in federal court as a Louisiana judge cleared a path for former NFL players to return to college football, escalating an eligibility fight days before Lane Kiffin’s Tigers open their season against Clemson.

The SEC filed its lawsuit just after midnight Thursday, September 3, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. Later that day, a separate hearing unfolded in Baton Rouge over whether athletes who had exhausted four seasons of college eligibility could receive another year under the NCAA’s new eligibility system.

Hours later, Louisiana Judge William Jorden granted a preliminary injunction protecting 42 athletes across several sports. The order prevents the NCAA and SEC from penalizing schools for rostering athletes covered by the lawsuit while the case continues.

Among the athletes are former Ole Miss players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, who briefly entered the NFL before seeking another college season at LSU.

Wright signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent before being claimed and later waived by the Cleveland Browns. Harris signed with the New Orleans Saints and was waived in August. Both played at Ole Miss under Kiffin, who became LSU’s head coach after the 2025 season.

The ruling gives LSU a path to add Wright and Harris before the SEC’s Friday roster deadline as the No. 11 Tigers prepare to open against Clemson on Saturday. Wright, however, began practicing too late to meet the NCAA’s seven-day practice requirement for the opener.

The decision does not represent a final ruling that NCAA or SEC eligibility restrictions are unlawful. A preliminary injunction preserves the athletes’ ability to compete while the underlying claims proceed through the courts.

The SEC’s federal lawsuit raises a different legal theory.

The conference argues that LSU is violating its First Amendment right of expressive association by forcing the SEC to accept conduct that conflicts with the rules and standards its members agreed to follow.

The lawsuit, The Southeastern Conference v. Louisiana State University, names LSU’s Board of Supervisors, LSU President Wade Rousse, Athletic Director Verge Ausberry and Kiffin as defendants.

The SEC is seeking declaratory and injunctive relief that would allow the conference to enforce what it calls its “Professionalism Rules.” Those restrictions generally prevent athletes who have entered professional drafts, signed professional contracts or appeared on professional rosters from returning to college competition.

According to the conference, LSU has engaged in a coordinated effort to recruit athletes who signed NFL contracts despite rules intended to preserve a distinction between college and professional sports.

The SEC argues that its restrictions protect competitive fairness and opportunities for high school and current college athletes. It also contends that member institutions voluntarily agreed to operate under common conference rules.

LSU’s position places the conference in an unusual legal fight with one of the schools it governs.

The university has pursued players who might have remained in college had the NCAA’s current eligibility structure existed when their previous eligibility expired. The athletes argue that they entered professional football only after being told that their college careers were over.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry summarized that argument after Thursday’s ruling, saying the players were not established professionals attempting to return after years in the NFL. Instead, they left college after being told they had no eligibility remaining and entered professional football before the NCAA changed its rules.

The controversy grew out of new NCAA eligibility rules allowing athletes five seasons of competition but excluding players who graduated from high school in 2022. More than two dozen lawsuits have followed, with athletes arguing that they are being unfairly denied another season because they entered college before the new rules took effect.

One of those challenges produced a class-wide preliminary injunction from U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney in Colorado. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit stayed that order in August while the NCAA pursues an appeal.

The Louisiana litigation developed differently because some of the athletes seeking another season had already signed professional contracts.

That raised a question the Colorado case did not resolve: whether an athlete who left college because his eligibility appeared exhausted could enter the NFL and then return after obtaining another season through the courts.

The SEC attempted to draw a firm line at professional participation.

Conference presidents and chancellors adopted a policy prohibiting member schools from rostering certain former professional athletes. The SEC also authorized Commissioner Greg Sankey to impose substantial penalties against schools that violated the rule, including a half-season suspension for a head coach and a fine equal to half of the sport’s annual operating budget. LSU abstained when the penalties were approved.

Jorden’s Louisiana order now prevents the SEC from using those penalties against schools in connection with the 42 athletes protected by the injunction.

The judge issued the ruling after a lengthy hearing that included testimony from Sankey, Wright, Harris and other athletes. Wright and Harris testified that they would not have entered professional football had they known another season of college eligibility might become available.

The SEC immediately signaled that the dispute is far from finished.

In a statement following the Louisiana ruling, the conference said its presidents and chancellors had adopted a “clear and reasonable standard” against placing former professional athletes on college rosters and maintained that member schools have the right to establish the rules governing conference competition.

The SEC said it would continue defending both the policy and its authority to govern its members.

The conference’s federal lawsuit gives it another path to challenge LSU even as it contests the Louisiana injunction.

The two proceedings address overlapping conduct but rely on different legal theories. The Louisiana athletes are challenging restrictions that could prevent them from using an additional season of eligibility. The SEC’s Alabama lawsuit focuses on the conference’s claimed constitutional right to maintain its own standards and resist being forced to associate with conduct it says undermines its purpose.

Because LSU is a public university, the federal case also places the dispute between a private athletic association and a state institution directly before a federal court.

The SEC is asking for preliminary and permanent injunctions that would prevent LSU and its officials from interfering with the conference’s asserted First Amendment rights. The conference claims LSU’s actions threaten its ability to maintain uniform eligibility standards among its 16 members.

LSU President Wade Rousse said the university respects the judicial process and will review the Louisiana order while continuing to work with the SEC and NCAA.

“College football does not deserve this kind of ambiguity in eligibility standards,” Rousse said following the ruling.

The ACC, Big Ten and Big 12 have also adopted restrictions against former professionals returning to college competition, giving the LSU dispute potential consequences beyond the SEC.

For now, LSU can move toward placing Wright, Harris and other protected athletes on its roster while the Louisiana case continues. The SEC’s federal lawsuit in Alabama gives the conference another chance to stop LSU from using former professional players as the 2026 season begins.