LSU blinked in the face of conference pressure and didn’t roster two ex-NFL players for its season opener against Clemson. But the SEC is not giving up its courtroom fight against its most controversial member.
On Tuesday, the SEC filed an amended complaint in its federal lawsuit against LSU, with the aim of establishing the legal authority to expel LSU from the conference. The amended complaint added members of the LSU Board of Supervisors as defendants as well as Louisiana attorney general Liz Murrill, who has been outspoken in defending the school.
The filing signals not just a willingness for the conference to continue its legal battle against LSU and its football coach Lane Kiffin, but an escalation.
Documents in the new filing say that the SEC will meet on Thursday to vote on whether to expel LSU from the conference. The SEC bylaws require a two-thirds majority of conference “CEOs,” or university presidents, to do so. While expelling LSU from the conference is highly unlikely, SEC school officials have had discussions about doing so, sources told Front Office Sports last week.
The lawsuit is seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent LSU officials taking action “to block or interfere with the meeting scheduled for September 10th.” It is also seeking a declaratory judgement that LSU’s conduct has violated the SEC’s First Amendment rights.
