SEC schedules meeting to decide whether to 'terminate' LSU as conference member

The SEC has called a Thursday meeting to "decide whether to terminate Louisiana State University ('LSU') as an SEC member institution," according to an amended complaint the conference filed Tuesday morning in its lawsuit against LSU .

In its filing, the SEC accuses LSU of a "lack of institutional control" that the league requires, highlighting what it believes to be ineffective administrative authority over Kiffin.

The first-year Tigers head coach, long ensnared in drama — including last year's soap opera that surrounded him departing Ole Miss for the LSU job on the brink of a College Football Playoff appearance — has flirted with bringing aboard a pair of players who spent time on NFL rosters as rookies this offseason . That's a transaction the SEC has forbid in the wake of several athletes from the high school class of 2022 trying to capitalize on the NCAA's new five-for-five eligibility model , which wasn't intended to grandfather in those who exhausted their eligibility amid the 2025-26 academic year.

While LSU didn't roster former Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns tight end Dae'Quan Wright and former New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Zxavian Harris for a Week 1 beatdown of Clemson, Kiffin has left spots open for their potential additions midseason.

Both Wright and Harris, who played for Kiffin at Ole Miss last season before going undrafted, were granted a preliminary injunction for a fifth year of eligibility last week in a Baton Rouge court . As part of that decision, though, LSU — along with the NCAA and SEC — was prohibited from taking action to prevent the players from competing .

Kiffin said Saturday on ESPN's "College GameDay" that the choice to omit Wright and Harris from the Tigers' Week 1 roster was in "the best interest of the team and the university," citing the "big picture" of LSU as well as the uncertainty regarding the possible consequences the program and school could face.

But the SEC's Tuesday filing alludes to how Kiffin remarked on ABC at the end of an on-field halftime interview during LSU's 51-10 season-opening victory later that day, "It took everything to not say, 'Imagine if we had pro players.'"

At the time, the 11th-ranked Tigers were up 31-3 at home.