LSU President Wade Rousse ends Lane Kiffin’s SEC showdown, but there is still relationships to mend
The ongoing battle between the SEC and LSU was set to be heard in a courtroom on Wednesday afternoon in Birmingham, Alabama.
But, just 10 minutes before the scheduled hearing in federal court over whether the SEC would be granted the power to enforce its rules pertaining to former pro-athletes returning to college athletics, lawyers for both sides met inside the chambers of the presiding judge to discuss a resolution.
A decision was made to continue the case to a later date, if needed and cooler heads looked to prevail out of Baton Rouge.
LSU HOLDS OFF ON ADDING PLAYERS WITH NFL TIES AS SEC LAWSUIT LOOMS OVER PROGRAM, LANE KIFFIN
Call it 'waving the white flag' or however you'd prefer, but LSU has backed down from its stance on adding players to their roster that have professional experience in some form or fashion.
One night before the SEC was scheduled to ask a federal judge in Alabama for a temporary restraining order, LSU has finalized its roster for the upcoming season.
That doesn’t mean the SEC is not going to be meeting on Thursday regarding potential punishments for the LSU Tigers, though.
After nearly three weeks of court appearances involving multiple athletes in the Louisiana case, including former Ole Miss players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, the Tigers decided not to add either player to its roster at any point this season.
The decision comes after both sides were embroiled in a fight that saw SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey make an appearance in a Louisiana district court to testify on behalf of his conference. During those proceedings, the lawsuit filed by the SEC was brought up during questioning.
"Did you authorize the SEC to sue LSU and coach Lane Kiffin?" attorney Tony Clayton asked Sankey.
When asked why the conference took that step, Sankey pointed to the authority of the presidents and chancellors he represents.
"We established our First Amendment right for freedom of association, so that our conference can make decisions and our members can make decisions about membership," Sankey said.
At that point, all options were on the table of how to move forward.
Judging by the decision of LSU on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, it was starting to become much clearer that the Tigers had finally backed down.
The back-and-forth between all parties involved came to a head last Friday, when SEC presidents and chancellors had seen enough.
At one point, a number of school officials were prepared to punish the school, with the topic of expulsion being brought up numerous times. While this never felt like a realistic option, the threat weighed heavy on the minds of folks around Baton Rouge.
In a letter sent to SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey on Wednesday morning, and obtained by OutKick, LSU President Wade Rousse wanted to make it clear that the Tigers were going to comply with conference rules and not roster any of the athletes who would have been eligible under a court injunction.
"On the afternoon of September 4, 2026, I called and provided you with advance notice that LSU would not place Dae'Quan Wright or Zxavian Harris on the football roster," President Rousse explained. "This was confirmed when LSU submitted its roster later that evening. On September 8, 2026, LSU filled its two remaining roster spots with eligible student-athletes. The roster is now locked for the season.
"LSU complied with SEC rules. The issue is now mute."
In terms of the meeting that was scheduled for Thursday between SEC presidents and chancellors to vote on what type of punishments to levy against LSU for this whole saga, President Rousse tried to make it clear that there would not be a challenge from the school, but the issue was now finalized.
"Also on September 8, 2026, I received notice of the special President's and Chancellor's meeting scheduled for tomorrow, September 10, 2026. At no point has LSU ever threatened to upset that meeting," President Rousse explained. "But to be clear, LSU will not challenge, disrupt or seek to cancel or postpone this meeting.
"This issue is also moot."
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All of this could have transpired weeks ago, when the SEC released its guidelines pertaining to rules on professional athletes returning to college sports.
But, it looked as though the Tigers wanted to challenge the conference on its stance. While LSU was never actually named in the lawsuit pertaining to the athletes in a Baton Rouge court, they were certainly in the news.
Thanks to statements from Governor Jeff Landry, along with Attorney General Liz Murrill showing up to the courthouse wearing a purple blouse and exclaiming 'Go Tigers' before entering the courthouse, it was obvious that while LSU officials were not present, government officials were trying to speak on their behalf.
In reality, that's where this whole ordeal turned into a political sideshow that felt more like propaganda than the actual athletes involved in the case.
Now, six days after the hearing inside a Baton Rouge court, the LSU Tigers are finally doing us all a favor and moving on from this nonsense that has diverted attention away from the college football season.
And no, this does not mean we are done hearing about athletes from LSU being involved in legal arguments, as the school still has to make a decision on basketball player RJ Luis.
We will see what the SEC decides to do on Thursday, but I think it's pretty clear that it was time for this circus to come to an end.