The Southeastern Conference has called a special meeting for Thursday at which university presidents are expected to consider whether LSU should be expelled from the conference, according to an amended complaint filed Tuesday in the SEC’s ongoing legal battle with the university.
The extraordinary possibility of removing one of the SEC’s longest-tenured members comes amid a dispute over LSU’s handling of two former NFL players seeking to play college football for the Tigers and the conference’s accusation that LSU has failed to maintain institutional control over its athletics program.
According to Yahoo Sports, the SEC’s amended complaint says Thursday’s meeting was called to “decide whether to terminate Louisiana State University (‘LSU’) as an SEC member institution.”
Under conference rules, at least 11 of the SEC’s 16 university presidents would have to support termination for LSU to be expelled.
Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger reported Tuesday that conference officials have believed for more than a week that enough presidents support placing LSU on probation at minimum, with expulsion also potentially receiving sufficient support.
The dispute centers on LSU head football coach Lane Kiffin and former Ole Miss players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris.
Wright, a tight end who spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns, and Harris, a defensive tackle who was with the New Orleans Saints, played for Kiffin at Ole Miss before going undrafted and spending time with NFL organizations.
The players are seeking to take advantage of the NCAA’s new five-year eligibility model and return to college football despite their professional experience.
The SEC, however, adopted a policy prohibiting athletes who have signed with or joined professional football organizations from subsequently competing in the conference.
According to Yahoo Sports, the policy was approved unanimously by the SEC’s 16 member institutions. ESPN reported that LSU later abstained from a vote concerning penalties that SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey could impose for violations of the policy.
Those potential penalties reportedly include suspending a head coach for half of a team’s regular season and imposing a fine equivalent to half of the football program’s annual operating budget.
The dispute became more complicated when Wright and Harris obtained a preliminary injunction from a Baton Rouge court last week allowing them a fifth year of college eligibility.
The ruling also prohibited LSU, the NCAA and the SEC from taking action to prevent the players from competing.
LSU nevertheless left both players off its Week 1 roster for its season opener against Clemson.
Kiffin told ESPN’s “College GameDay” that LSU made the decision because it was in “the best interest of the team and the university,” pointing to the larger implications of the dispute and uncertainty surrounding possible penalties against LSU.
The Tigers then defeated Clemson 51-10.
During an ABC halftime interview, with LSU leading 31-3, Kiffin joked about the controversy.
“It took everything to not say, ‘Imagine if we had pro players,’” Kiffin said.
The SEC cited that comment, along with statements Kiffin made during his postgame press conference reiterating his disagreement with the conference’s policy, in Tuesday’s amended filing.
The conference argues that Kiffin’s public position, combined with what it characterized as silence from LSU’s president and athletic director, demonstrates that university administrators have failed to exercise sufficient authority over the football program.
“Coach Kiffin’s statements and position, along with the numerous statements and actions by Defendants alleged hereinabove, as contrasted with the silence by the President and Athletic Director of LSU after the President of LSU voted for the Policy Statement on Aug. 25, 2026, confirm the lack of institutional control over the athletics program at LSU that is required by Article 6 of the SEC Constitution,” the conference said in its filing.
The SEC also filed a request Tuesday for a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
According to the conference, the request is intended to protect its ability and that of its member universities to govern their own association.
“The SEC and its member universities have the right to establish, through agreed-upon governance procedures, the rules under which they voluntarily compete and to expect those rules to be followed,” the conference said in a statement reported by Dellenger. “A commitment to those rules, and to the core principles of the Southeastern Conference, is an essential element of SEC membership.”
The conference said its court filing was necessary to “preserve the Conference’s ability to govern competition among its members.”
The requested restraining order would prohibit LSU officials and attorneys from taking action to deter or prevent the conference from exercising what the SEC argues is its First Amendment right of free association, including the possibility of terminating LSU’s membership during Thursday’s special meeting.
“Forced association with a member whose conduct is antithetical to the SEC’s mission and core values violates the Conference’s fundamental First Amendment rights,” the SEC argued in its motion. “LSU has rejected those core values repeatedly and publicly.”
LSU had no comment on the SEC’s latest filing as of Tuesday morning, according to Dellenger.
The dispute places LSU’s century-long relationship with the SEC in unprecedented jeopardy. LSU was one of the 13 universities that founded the Southeastern Conference in 1932 and has remained a member throughout the league’s subsequent expansions.
For now, Wright and Harris remain off LSU’s roster, although Kiffin has kept roster spots available should the university ultimately decide to add them during the season.
The immediate question, however, has expanded far beyond the eligibility of two football players.
When the SEC’s presidents meet Thursday, they could determine whether the escalating fight over conference authority, LSU’s administration and Kiffin’s football program warrants sanctions against one of the league’s founding members — or the far more consequential step of removing LSU from the Southeastern Conference altogether.
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