Southeastern Conference asks judge to clear Thursday vote on ousting LSU

The conference seeks a TRO after adding Louisiana’s attorney general and the full LSU board to its First Amendment suit.(CN) — The Southeastern Conference asked an Alabama federal judge on Tuesday to prevent Louisiana officials from blocking a Thursday meeting at which the league’s presidents will consider expelling Louisiana State University.The request for a temporary restraining order escalates a lawsuit originally filed Sept. 3 in which the conference argues it should not be forced to associate with a member that is recruiting and preparing to roster former NFL players in defiance of the league’s professionalism rules.Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris are former Ole Miss teammates who signed with the Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints before following coach Lane Kiffin to LSU. They practiced with the team in Baton Rouge and won a Louisiana court order clearing them to play, but they were left off the roster and did not suit up in Saturday’s 51-10 win over Clemson. The No. 8 LSU Tigers are a favorite to win the conference championship and contend for the national title.In an amended complaint against LSU officials and Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill filed Tuesday, the conference claims LSU waged a coordinated campaign to recruit the players. Further, it claims there is a consensus among league executives that LSU’s continued membership is inconsistent with its stated values “whether or not LSU ever includes Harris, Wright or other football players who are ineligible under the professionalism rules.”A previously scheduled Sept. 10 session has been converted into a special meeting on involuntary termination. LSU could be removed from the conference with a two-thirds vote of all CEOs. The conference has 16 schools, including LSU. The meeting is closed to the public.The amended lawsuit also broadens the jurisdictional claims to include school officials and the AG, citing the board’s governance role and Murrill’s amicus participation in the Louisiana proceeding as conduct aimed at the Birmingham-based conference. The conference insists the case is not a request to declare any individual athlete ineligible.In a statement on social media, Murrill called the claims “garbage and frivolous.” In a Tuesday interview with a Louisiana radio program, she emphasized the state court order permits the players to enter the portal and blocks the NCAA and Southeastern Conference from imposing sanctions on them.There, a suit by dozens of 2022-class athletes, including Wright and Harris, argued the NCAA’s new five-season eligibility model wrongly left them out and that a brief NFL camp stint should not bar a fifth college year. After an August temporary restraining order that later swept in the conference and Commissioner Greg Sankey, 19th Judicial District Court Judge William Jorden held a lengthy hearing Sept. 3 and orally granted a preliminary injunction against the defendant organizations.“Now, the SEC is claiming they have the right to expressive association and that LSU is interfering with that, but the majority of the SEC are public institutions that do not have First Amendment rights,” Murrill said about the conference’s lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Alabama.A hearing on the preliminary injunction is scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday in Birmingham before U.S. District Judge Annemarie Axon, a Donald Trump appointee and University of Alabama graduate. Parties did not immediately return requests for comment.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads