The Court Said Yes, LSU Said No: What Really Happened After the Louisiana Eligibility Ruling
A follow-up on the SEC's lawsuit against LSU and Lane Kiffin, the expulsion vote that almost happened, why the Tigers benched their own court win, and the lesson every athlete needs to take from it.
Ten days ago, a Louisiana judge handed a group of former NFL players one of the biggest wins yet in the NCAA eligibility fight, clearing the way for LSU to roster them over the SEC's objection. Since then: LSU didn't roster them anyway, the SEC scheduled a vote to expel LSU from the conference entirely, and LSU talked its way out of it less than 24 hours before that vote. If you only read the headline about the ruling, you missed the more important story, and the more important lesson for any athlete counting on a court order to guarantee a roster spot.
Quick Recap: What Judge Jorden Actually Ruled
On the night of September 3, 2026, Louisiana judge William Jorden granted a preliminary injunction in favor of a group of athletes, including former NFL players Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, fighting to keep their NCAA eligibility. The order did two things: it barred the NCAA from declaring the protected athletes ineligible, and it barred the SEC from punishing any member school, coach, or administrator for signing, rostering, or playing one of the seven SEC-connected plaintiffs whose claims survived an earlier standing ruling.
Jorden's written reasoning was pointed. He called the NCAA's rollout of its new eligibility model “arbitrary” and “capricious,” questioning why the organization waited until June 2026 to finalize age-based eligibility rules after two years of internal discussion. He declined to hold the NCAA or the SEC in contempt, finding neither had taken a “sufficiently concrete action” to violate his earlier order, but he had sharp words for the SEC's newly announced penalty structure anyway, comparing it to “showing you I've got a big gun.” The injunction applies only to the 2026-27 academic year, and any attempt to stay it has to go through Louisiana's First Circuit Court of Appeal or the state Supreme Court, not federal court.
Then LSU Didn't Use the Win
Here's the part that surprised almost everyone: LSU won the legal fight and then declined to cash it in. When the Tigers finalized their 105-man roster on Tuesday, September 4, the day after the ruling, Wright and Harris weren't on it. Kiffin filled the two open spots with sophomore cornerback Aidan Anding and junior defensive end Gabriel Reliford instead.
Asked why, Kiffin pointed to the uncertainty hanging over the SEC's threatened penalties: “we couldn't get exact reasons or . . . what that would mean if we added them to the roster, so with that, I made the decision which is in the best interests of the team.” In plain terms: a favorable court order wasn't enough certainty to risk the fines, coaching suspension, or lost voting rights the SEC had already voted 15-0 to authorize.
The Halftime Joke That Almost Cost LSU Its Conference Membership
LSU beat Clemson 51-10 in Kiffin's debut on September 5, without Wright or Harris. At halftime, with the game well in hand, Kiffin quipped on the broadcast: “imagine if we had NFL players.” It was a joke about a blowout. The SEC did not treat it as one.
The conference cited the comment directly in an amended complaint against LSU and Kiffin, arguing it showed “LSU's demonstrated lack of institutional control . . . over Coach Kiffin's actions.” On the strength of that filing, the SEC did something no conference had done to a member school in this dispute: it invoked Section 3.1.5 of the SEC Constitution and Bylaws, the provision governing membership termination — and scheduled a vote of conference presidents for Thursday, September 10, to decide whether to expel LSU from the SEC entirely. Expulsion would have required a two-thirds vote of the presidents, and multiple sources indicated the SEC had the votes to get there. For reference, the closest recent precedent was Temple's 2001 removal from the Big East, after which Temple spent two years as a football independent before landing in the Mid-American Conference.
How LSU Defused It, Barely
Before the vote could happen, LSU president Wade Rousse sent SEC commissioner Greg Sankey a letter reaffirming that the roster was locked without Wright or Harris, writing: “The roster is now locked for the season. LSU complied with SEC rules. This issue is moot.” Rousse also pledged LSU would not “challenge, disrupt or seek to cancel or postpone” the scheduled presidents' meeting.
It worked, for now. Expulsion came off the agenda, no vote was taken, and the SEC's federal court hearing against LSU and Kiffin was delayed rather than dismissed, the case is paused, not over. Wright and Harris's attorneys say they're “reviewing their legal options,” but with LSU's 105-man roster locked for the season, there is, as one report put it, “no pathway for them to play for the team in 2026.” Fines and suspensions reportedly remain on the table even without expulsion, and tension between LSU and the conference hasn't gone away, it's just no longer at Defcon 1.
The Real Lesson: A Court Win Is Not a Roster Spot
This is the part every athlete should sit with. Wright and Harris did everything the legal system asked of them, they sued, they testified, they won a preliminary injunction from a sitting judge. And it still wasn't enough to get them on the field, because the decision that actually mattered wasn't made by a court. It was made by a university weighing conference politics, financial exposure, and institutional risk against two roster spots.
That gap, between what a court allows and what a school, conference, or coach is actually willing to do, is exactly where athletes get blindsided. A legal win tells you what's permitted. It doesn't tell you what a risk-averse athletic department will actually choose when a conference is pointing a loaded penalty structure at their door.
Not Just Football: The Same Fight Is Playing Out in Basketball
LSU basketball is navigating a nearly identical fight. Guard RJ Luis Jr., a former Big East Player of the Year who spent time on two NBA rosters, was granted his own preliminary injunction on August 25, 2026, clearing a path to play for LSU under head coach Will Wade. Unlike the football case, the basketball program has kept moving forward with him on the roster, a reminder that even within the same university, the practical outcome of these rulings can land differently sport by sport, and school by school.
Where the Bigger, Nationwide Case Still Stands
Zoom out, and the foundational legal question behind all of this, whether the NCAA's age-based eligibility model can lawfully exclude the high school class of 2022, is still unresolved. The Tenth Circuit's August 21 stay of the nationwide Wisne v. NCAA injunction was exactly that: a stay, not a ruling on the merits. An expedited briefing schedule has been granted, but as of mid-September it's still unclear whether oral arguments will happen this month or later, and a later oral argument pushes any appellate decision further out. Until that's resolved, the pattern from Louisiana holds nationally: eligibility protection remains a patchwork of individual state-court rulings, each one only as strong as a school's willingness to rely on it.
Key Takeaways for Athletes and Families
Winning in court is necessary, but it isn't sufficient. Wright and Harris won their injunction and still didn't play, because the school, not the court, controls the roster.
Watch the institution's risk tolerance, not just the law. A school facing conference-level penalties, fines, suspensions, or in LSU's case, a real expulsion threat, may choose to comply with the conference over a favorable court order.
Offhand comments carry real legal weight right now. A joking halftime remark became evidence in a federal complaint and nearly triggered a conference expulsion vote. In this environment, public statements about eligibility fights are not casual.
A “resolved” dispute often isn't finished. LSU's federal case is delayed, not dismissed, and the players' attorneys are still weighing options, this story is very likely not over.
The underlying national question remains open. The Tenth Circuit's stay of Wisne v. NCAA was procedural, not final, so don't treat any single ruling — win or loss — as the last word on the Class of 2022's eligibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did the former NFL players end up playing for LSU?
No. Despite winning a preliminary injunction, Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris were left off LSU's final 105-man roster, which locked on September 4, 2026. With the roster set for the season, there is currently no path for them to play for LSU in 2026.
Why didn't LSU use the court ruling to roster the players?
Coach Lane Kiffin cited uncertainty about the consequences, the SEC had already voted to authorize fines up to 50% of a school's athletic budget, a coaching suspension of up to half a season, and loss of voting privileges for any school that rostered a player like Wright or Harris. LSU chose not to test that penalty structure.
Was LSU actually going to get kicked out of the SEC?
The threat was real enough that the SEC scheduled a formal vote for September 10, 2026, under Section 3.1.5 of its Constitution and Bylaws, which governs membership termination. Expulsion would have required a two-thirds vote of conference presidents, and reporting indicated the SEC had the votes. LSU avoided the vote by formally committing, in writing, that Wright and Harris would not be on its roster.
Is the SEC's lawsuit against LSU and Kiffin over?
No. The federal court hearing was delayed, not dismissed, after LSU's compliance letter. The case remains open, and additional penalties such as fines or suspensions reportedly remain possible even without expulsion.
Does this mean the Class of 2022 eligibility fight is settled nationally?
Not at all. The Tenth Circuit's stay of the nationwide Wisne v. NCAA injunction was a procedural pause, not a final ruling, and the appeal is still being briefed. Eligibility protection continues to depend heavily on which state and which court an athlete's case lands in, and, as this case shows, on whether a school is willing to act on a ruling once it has it.
Sources
WAFB – LSU's Lane Kiffin, university leaders issued federal summonses in SEC roster lawsuit
ESPN – SEC schedules vote about whether to expel LSU, amends lawsuit
CBS Sports – Facing potential expulsion, LSU blinked first in historic standoff with SEC
FOX Sports – No Sanctions, No Vote By SEC To Expel LSU From Conference Over NFL Players
