The Southeastern Conference has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama against Louisiana State University, naming as defendants president Wade Rousse, athletics director Verge Ausberry and head football coach Lane Kiffin.
According to documents obtained by On3, the SEC requests the court “enter a preliminary and permanent injunction prohibiting Defendants from violating the Conference’s First Amendment rights by compelling the Conference to associate with conduct that is contrary to the Conference’s purpose and mission.”
“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 its complaint, filed Thursday.
The SEC complaint argues that LSU and Kiffin “began an orchestrated campaign to recruit professional athletes to join LSU’s football roster for the 2026-27 season,” according to On3's Pete Nakos.
"The news comes the same day as a preliminary injunction hearing in Baton Rouge, where the judge is expected to decide whether the temporary restraining order would remain in place until a trial date is set," Nakos reported Thursday. "If the injunction is granted, it would give LSU legal standing to play former Ole Miss and NFL players Zxavian Harris and Dae’Quan Wright."
LSU opens the 2026 season on Saturday night in a top-25 matchup against Clemson. SEC rosters have to be finalized and sent to the league office 24 hours before kickoff. Programs do not have to submit 105 at the final deadline; however, only athletes currently enrolled at the university can be added after the roster is sent to the league office.
"It’s an aggressive approach by the league, as it takes steps to self-govern and enforce a league-wide rule," Nakos wrote. "Allowing a conference institution to break a league-wide policy without any penalties could be detrimental to a future self-governance model."
Subsequent to the NCAA passing an age-based eligibility rule, a Colorado judge responded to a lawsuit by deciding former class of 2022 recruits could to return for a fifth year of eligibility, arguing the new rule excluded them from returning for the 2026-27 academic year.
“Despite the SEC’s longstanding rules prohibiting professional athletes from returning to college athletics, Defendants saw this as an opportunity to be exploited,” the SEC wrote in Thursday’s complaint. “They began an orchestrated campaign to recruit professional athletes to join LSU’s football roster for the 2026-27 season.”
“Defendants have continued their campaign to engage in willful efforts to recruit and soon roster professional athletes in direct defiance of the Professionalism Rules,” the conference's complaint continued, per On3. “This conduct is detrimental to the Conference and contrary to its core purpose. Defendants’ conduct has already harmed the Conference and threatens to cause further substantial harm if not curbed.”
