SEC files lawsuit against LSU, Lane Kiffin over player eligiblity

The SEC has filed a lawsuit against LSU and Lane Kiffin that asks for an injunction overruling a recent decision in a Louisiana court that allowed more than a dozen former college athletes to return to college despite concluding their eligibility this past season.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, the SEC lawsuit also names LSU President Wade Rouse and athletics director Verge Ausberry.

LSU and Kiffin have come under intense scrutiny after the latter welcomed into his program former athletes who had already participated in NFL training camps, including potentially key additions who played for Kiffin last season when he was the coach at Mississippi.

NCAA, SEC, LSU head to court in player eligibility case.

“Defendants waged a deliberate and coordinated campaign to recruit professional athletes to play football for LSU during the 2026-27 season, including players who had signed NFL contracts with the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers,” the SEC said in the suit.

On Aug. 19, a Louisiana judge issued a temporary restraining order allowing former athletes who had concluded four seasons of eligibility during the past academic year to return to the NCAA level following the organization’s recent implementation of a five-for-five eligibility rule.

That order named names the SEC and Commissioner Greg Sankey as defendants and precluded them from enforcing a new conference policy that would deal significant penalties on schools that field players with professional experience.

Under the NCAA’s new eligibility rule, college athletes will have five years to complete five seasons of eligibility, with the clock starting on the day of their enrollment in college or the start of the 19th birthday, whichever comes first.

The Louisiana ruling allowed athletes who enrolled as part of the high school class of 2022 to gain a fifth year of eligibility.

On August 25, SEC presidents, chancellors and athletics directors unanimously adopted a new policy that made it a violation of conference bylaws to sign or roster a player with professional experience.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: SEC files lawsuit against LSU, Lane Kiffin over player eligiblity