On Saturday, LSU will host a highly anticipated Week 1 matchup against Clemson in Death Valley. It won’t be the only college football battle in Baton Rouge this week.
Arguably the bigger fight—one with potential ripple effects across the SEC and all of college sports—will take place in a Baton Rouge courthouse on Thursday. Judge William Jorden of the 19th Judicial District Court in East Baton Rouge Parish will hear oral arguments over a potential preliminary injunction that would allow multiple players who participated in NFL preseason activities to regain college eligibility this season. At least two of those players are set to be signed by LSU.
On Monday, all parties confirmed their willingness to hold onto their current positions. LSU head coach Lane Kiffin confirmed that, while he is in contact with the SEC, he still intends to play those athletes if eligible. The SEC, meanwhile, released a statement saying it fully intends to defend a new ban on pro players in court Thursday.
It’s the latest step in the escalating legal showdown between LSU’s potential players, the school, and the SEC—one even Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry has become involved in.
It all started two weeks ago, when a judge granted a temporary restraining order preventing the NCAA from enforcing an eligibility ban on dozens of players, including 16 football players—some of whom had participated in NFL preseason. The lawsuit was one of many arguing players who started college in 2022 and exhausted four years of eligibility should be granted a fifth year in line with the NCAA’s new “age-based” eligibility policy. The NCAA has continued fighting these lawsuits in court rather than grandfathering in students whose college careers ended before the new policy took effect.
