The SEC Quotes Lane Kiffin's Halftime Interview In Court Filing Asking For The Authority To Kick LSU Out Of The Conference

I bet Clemson wishes this had happened sooner. The showdown between LSU and the SEC seemed to cool off over the weekend, after a heated battle in the courts over players returning to college after working out with NFL teams. Last week, the conference today filed a lawsuit against LSU, president Wade Rousse, athletic director Verge Ausberry and head coach Lane Kiffin over the school's recruitment of former professional athletes, including two players who have previously appeared on NFL rosters who are fighting to be allowed to play for the Tigers in the upcoming season. It's a long and winding story, but here's the quick breakdown: The whole mess started in June 2026 when the NCAA implemented their '5 in 5' rule, which allows a player 5 years to compete in 5 full seasons of athletics. However, players who started their careers in 2022 had already exhausted their eligibility under previous NCAA rules, which gave players 5 years to complete 4 years of competition. The new rule was implemented after these players had exhausted their eligibility and been forced to declare for the pros, which would otherwise make them ineligible to return to college. But several players have filed lawsuits seeking a fifth year of eligibility, and courts in both Louisiana and Colorado have issued temporary restraining orders allowing these players to return to college, despite several of them having already been signed to NFL teams. The LSU case centers around two football players specifically: Former Ole Miss tight end Dae'Quan Wright signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent back in May. He was later waived by the Eagles, and claimed off waivers by the Cleveland Browns, but was ultimately waived by the Browns last week. And former Ole Miss defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, who was ranked by ESPN as the best player not selected in the NFL Draft, signed with the New Orleans Saints immediately after the draft before being waived back on August 8. Both players have since decided to return to college, and signed with LSU for the 2026 season. The NCAA and the SEC, meanwhile, have both attempted to implement rules that would keep teams from signing former NFL players. At league meetings last month, school presidents (including LSU) voted to prohibit players who have signed an NFL contract or been listed on an NFL roster from returning to college, but as of right now the court has cleared the way for these players to suit up for the Tigers – despite being in the NFL earlier this month. The players were back in court last week, where a judge cleared the way for the players to join the team. But the SEC responded by filing their own lawsuit against LSU late last week, asking the court to issue an injunction prohibiting the school from recruiting professional athletes. 'Despite the SEC's longstanding rules prohibiting professional athletes from returning to college athletics, Defendants saw this as an opportunity to be exploited. They began an orchestrated campaign to recruit professional athletes to join LSU's football roster for the 2026-27 season.' Over the weekend things seemed to cool off, with LSU deciding not to add the former NFL players to their roster for their opening game against Clemson – likely because they knew that if they eventually lost in court it could cause them big problems and wasn't worth the risk. Obviously they didn't end up needing them in their opening game, which LSU won 51-10 in a statement victory. But Kiffin couldn't resist taking a shot at the conference during his halftime interview with the team up 31-3: 'Imagine if we had pro players.' "Imagine if we had pro players." 😅 Lane Kiffin is not holding back. pic.twitter.com/OzHEZqw1UW — ESPN (@espn) September 6, 2026 Well apparently the league didn't take too kindly to being taunted by one of their coaches, because today the SEC filed an amendment to their lawsuit against LSU, asking a court to issue a preliminary injunction giving them the authority to kick the school out of the conference. According to the new filing, the SEC has scheduled a meeting on Thursday, September 10 to vote on terminating LSU's membership in the conference, and seeks an injunction allowing the meeting to go forward: 'Pursuant to notice properly given under Section 5.1 contemporaneously with the filing of this First Amended Complaint, the CEOs will meet on September 10, 2026, to decide whether to terminate Louisiana State University ('LSU') as an SEC member institution pursuant to Section 3.1.5 of the SEC Constitution and Bylaws.' And the conference cites Kiffin's halftime interview as demonstrating a 'lack of institutional control' that's harmful to the other schools in the SEC and the conference itself. Because of this, the conference asks for permission to go forward with the Thursday meeting to discuss the school's membership in the SEC. Now, it's widely expected that the league won't actually vote to kick out LSU, but the conference is clearly still trying to establish its authority in managing the spiraling situation – something that so far, courts haven't been willing to give them. It would take a two-thirds vote by of all school presidents to actually kick LSU out of the conference. LSU has yet to respond to the original or amended complaint, or the request for an injunction from the SEC. And other than Kiffin, most school officials have remained silent on the issue since the hearing last week – something else the conference noted in their complaint: 'Defendant Kiffin's statements and position, along with the numerous other statements and actions by Defendants alleged herein, stand in sharp contrast to the silence by the President and Athletic Director of LSU after Defendant Rousse voted for the Policy Statement on August 25, 2026. And 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 referenced above.' What a mess.