SEC takes no action against LSU after expulsion threat

The Southeastern Conference has backed away from its extraordinary threat to expel LSU, ending a week of escalating legal and political drama without a vote or any immediate punishment.

SEC presidents and chancellors met by video conference Thursday, but did not vote on LSU’s membership and announced no sanctions. Instead, the league said the leaders discussed “recent matters involving conference expectations and responsibilities” and that talks would continue toward “an appropriate resolution.”

That was a sharp change from two days earlier, when an amended SEC lawsuit said conference leaders would meet Sept. 10 “to decide whether to terminate” LSU’s membership. Removing a school requires support from two-thirds of the league’s presidents and chancellors.

The fight began over LSU coach Lane Kiffin’s attempt to add former Ole Miss players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, both of whom signed NFL contracts after exhausting what had been understood to be their college eligibility. Wright spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns, while Harris signed with the New Orleans Saints before being waived.

Their path back to college opened amid litigation over the NCAA’s new five-year eligibility structure. A Baton Rouge judge last week granted relief to dozens of athletes, including Wright and Harris, and barred the SEC from punishing schools in connection with the affected players.

The SEC responded by suing LSU, President Wade Rousse, Athletic Director Verge Ausberry and Kiffin in federal court in Alabama, arguing the conference had a First Amendment right not to be forced to associate with conduct that violated its rules. The league said its restrictions on former professionals preserve competitive fairness and the distinction between college and professional sports.

Louisiana officials pushed back aggressively. Attorney General Liz Murrill called the federal case “legal garbage,” while Gov. Jeff Landry argued the players were not longtime professionals trying to return to school.

“They are college players who were told, by the NCAA, that they were done,” Landry said. “So they took the only door that was open, only to watch the NCAA change the lock behind them.”

The confrontation escalated further when the SEC amended its lawsuit and disclosed that LSU’s membership itself could be put to a vote. Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a sworn declaration that conference presidents believed LSU’s continued membership could be inconsistent with the SEC’s stated values and principles even if the players never took the field.

US Senator John Kennedy weighed in on the drama, calling the threat to expel LSU "Bone deep down to the marrow stupid."

"I’ve got rocks in my driveway that are smarter than that. They’re not going to throw LSU out of the SEC," the Louisiana Republican said. "Let me tell you something, I and a lot of other people in the United States Congress will be on them like a hobo on a ham sandwich."

But LSU ultimately backed down on the roster question. Kiffin left Wright and Harris off the opening-week roster, saying the decision “wasn’t easy,” but that he had to consider “the big picture of LSU and the LSU football program.” LSU later filled its final two roster spots with other players.

Rousse then told Sankey that LSU had complied.

“The roster is now locked for the season,” Rousse wrote. “LSU complied with SEC rules. This issue is moot.”

That move took most of the urgency out of the dispute. A scheduled federal hearing was postponed at the parties’ request, the expulsion question disappeared from Thursday’s SEC meeting and no new hearing date has been set.

The SEC could still discipline LSU or Kiffin, and its federal lawsuit remains pending. But with Wright and Harris unable to join LSU’s roster this season, the practical fight that triggered the confrontation has largely evaporated.