Here are LSU, SEC's options as eligibility battle, kickoff collide

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LSU got a significant court win, and the SEC, its leader Greg Sankey as well as the NCAA got skewered in the process.

19th Judicial District Court of Louisiana Judge William Jorden late Thursday, Sept. 3, ruled against the SEC's policy and granted a preliminary injunction that paves the way for seven athletes with SEC ties whose collegiate careers were previously thought over to be eligible to play.

Rosters for all NCAA teams must be submitted no later than 24 hours prior to a team's season-opening competition – with LSU, in its debut under Lane Kiffin, hosting Clemson Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

While LSU now is cleared to roster Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, former Ole Miss players for Kiffin who were in NFL camps this summer, it still has options. LSU can roster the players in advance of the Clemson game, dress them but not elect to play them — and avoid potential retroactive SEC sanctions in the future, should the SEC eventually score a legal victory.

Additionally, LSU could elect to not submit a maximum 105-player roster this week – perhaps believing Harris, Wright and others need more re-acclimation time to the college game – but by keeping roster spots open, house those players in a resubmitted roster. USA TODAY Sports outlines the roster process in this story.

"LSU respects the judicial process and the court's decision," LSU President Wade Rousse said via statement. "We will carefully review the court's order and continue to work constructively with the SEC and NCAA as this matter moves forward. College football does not deserve this kind of ambiguity in eligibility standards."

On Friday, Sept. 4, the College Football Playoff, which organizes the top level of NCAA football's year-end tournament, weighed in on the eligibility battle.

"The CFP strongly supports the positions and rules of individual conferences concerning the return to college of athletes with professional draft, contract or roster ties. These conference rules are intended to protect the needs, interests and integrity of the sport," according to a statement sent to USA TODAY Sports. "The CFP believes that certain clear rules should be followed so that individual institutions fielding FBS football teams know what will be expected of them, and so that the public can have full confidence in the competitive integrity of the sport. Given the ongoing legal proceedings, we will not have further comments on the matter at this time."

Louisiana judge blisters SEC, NCAA in eligibility ruling

In the process of handing LSU its most significant legal victory to date, as one legal expert explained to USA TODAY Sports, Jorden blistered both the SEC and NCAA in about as strong of terms as possible.

"Judge Jorden didn’t hold the NCAA or the SEC in contempt, but he didn't let them off easy, either," attorney Ryan Regula, partner with Snell and Wilmer who works directly with universities across the United States and in issues of corporate compliance, told USA TODAY Sports. "He compared the SEC's announced penalties – half-season coaching suspensions, fines worth 50% of a sport's operating budget, revoked voting rights – to displaying a weapon.

"His exact words [were the SEC effectively is saying], 'I'm showing you I've got a big gun. I'm showing you, if you feel froggy, go on and leap.' That’s about as pointed as a judge gets without pulling the contempt trigger. If the SEC tries to enforce penalties after this ruling, I'd expect contempt proceedings to follow quickly."

SEC pins eligibility ruling hopes on its own federal lawsuit

Getting a hearing at a federal level, where its presumed the judge won't be as friendly as at the state level – Jorden is up for reelection this fall in Louisiana – is the likely motivation for the SEC's decision to file suit in U.S. District Court of Northern Alabama Thursday, Sept. 3.

"The SEC is suing LSU, not the players, so it can make its First Amendment argument in federal court," said attorney Kathleen Dion, professional and collegiate sports industry team member at Robinson+Cole. "The federal court could still decide not to hear the case if it is too similar to the lawsuit the players already brought in state court.

"The SEC's basic argument is that it has a constitutional right to operate under one set of rules that applies to all of its schools."

Regula further underscored that the SEC's position has been weakened by the vague nature of the NCAA's newly passed "age-based eligibility model" which was passed June 23, 2026, and allows current and future student-athletes to play up to five seasons in a five-year span.

"The core of the judge's (Jorden's) reasoning was that the NCAA's own rule, as written, never says the 2022 class is carved out of the new five-year model," Regula said. "Instead, the judge’s reasoning is that the eligibility standards have been applied arbitrarily – different treatment for different sports, different leagues, different categories of athletes…

"At this point, the more interesting case is the one the SEC filed in Alabama. The legal theory there is novel and aggressive: the SEC is claiming that LSU, as a state actor, violated the conference’s First Amendment right of expressive association by recruiting former NFL players and forcing the SEC to associate its brand and competitions with conduct it has publicly rejected."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Here are LSU, SEC's options as eligibility battle, kickoff collide

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