TUSCALOOSA, AL — The Southeastern Conference (SEC) on Tuesday escalated its legal fight with LSU and head football coach Lane Kiffin by asking a federal judge in Alabama to prevent Louisiana officials and others from interfering with a special meeting Thursday where SEC officials are expected to consider terminating LSU's conference membership.
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The SEC filed a 44-page motion Tuesday morning in the Northern District of Alabama seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.
The SEC issued the following statement following the most recent filing:
"Today, the Southeastern Conference, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, filed a request for a temporary restraining order in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama to protect the right of the Conference and its member institutions to govern themselves. The SEC and its member universities have the right to establish, through agreed-upon governance procedures, the rules under which they voluntarily compete and to expect those rules to be followed. A commitment to those rules, and to the core principles of the Southeastern Conference, is an essential element of SEC membership. Today's filing is necessary to defend that right and preserve the Conference's ability to govern competition among its members."
- The Southeastern Conference.
The filing asks U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon to protect what the conference characterizes as its First Amendment right of free association and allow its 15 other member institutions to decide whether LSU should remain in the SEC.
The filing represents a significant escalation from the SEC's original lawsuit against LSU officials, Kiffin and Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill.
According to the SEC, a special meeting of conference presidents and chancellors is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 10, specifically to consider the involuntary termination of LSU's membership. SEC rules require a two-thirds vote of its chief executive officers to terminate a member.
The SEC is asking Axon to prohibit LSU officials, Murrill and anyone acting with them from filing or participating in litigation intended to stop the meeting or prevent the conference from carrying out a decision to remove LSU.
The conference's proposed relief would still allow LSU to challenge such a decision through a counterclaim in the pending Alabama federal case.
At the center of the dispute is the SEC's policy prohibiting member schools from rostering athletes who have moved into professional sports.
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey informed conference presidents and chancellors in August that an athlete would be considered a professional — and therefore ineligible for an SEC roster — if the athlete failed to properly withdraw after declaring for a professional draft, signed with a professional organization, or appeared on a professional roster.
The policy also outlined potentially severe penalties for violations, including a suspension of the head coach for half of the season, a fine equal to 50% of the sport's annual budget and the loss of the school's voting privileges on conference business.
That policy collided with litigation in Louisiana brought by a group of athletes challenging NCAA and SEC eligibility restrictions.
A Louisiana court's preliminary injunction prohibits the NCAA and, for most of the plaintiffs, the SEC and Sankey from preventing the athletes from competing in 2026-27 because they already played four seasons, failed to enter the transfer portal or previously competed at a junior college.
More importantly for the current SEC-LSU dispute, the Louisiana order allows qualifying plaintiffs to return to college athletics despite steps they took toward professional careers after the 2025-26 season.
This includes signing professional or agent contracts or participating in professional events, provided they terminate those contracts and repay compensation before playing in a college game.
The SEC argues that injunction has effectively prevented it from enforcing its professionalism rules against LSU and has left terminating LSU's membership as its only remaining means of disassociating itself from the university's conduct.
According to Tuesday's filing, the other 15 SEC presidents and chancellors met informally on Sept. 4 without LSU President Wade Rousse to discuss the situation.
The filing says no formal action was taken and no penalties were imposed. However, the SEC says the consensus among the group was that LSU's continued membership would be inconsistent with the conference's principles and values.
The SEC specifically took aim at Kiffin in the new filings.
SEC lawyers contend Kiffin has worked with plaintiffs challenging the eligibility rules and has publicly continued to oppose the SEC's position.
The motion cites Kiffin's comments after LSU's game against Clemson and appearances Saturday on ESPN's "College GameDay" and "Marty & McGee," where the SEC says Kiffin publicly said he had "fought" for the players involved in the Louisiana litigation.
Sankey goes further in a declaration filed with the motion, saying statements Kiffin made to SEC personnel "strongly imply, if not confirm" that the coach has communicated and coordinated directly with plaintiffs in the Louisiana case.
The conference also alleges LSU's president and athletics director have failed to exercise adequate institutional control over Kiffin and the football program.
According to the SEC, Rousse voted in favor of the conference's professionalism policy but LSU subsequently failed to take steps to comply with it while Kiffin continued publicly supporting the players' efforts to gain eligibility.
The SEC argues those actions have created a competitive imbalance because other conference schools have complied with the professionalism rules while LSU has expressed an intention to roster athletes the SEC considers professionals.
The conference also contends the dispute threatens its brand, championships, media properties and public confidence in SEC competition.
"Forced association with a member whose conduct is antithetical to the SEC's mission and core values violates the Conference's fundamental First Amendment rights," SEC attorneys wrote in Tuesday's motion.
The conference argues it faces irreparable harm if LSU or others obtain another court order preventing Thursday's meeting.
Because of this possibility, the SEC is requesting Judge Axon to act before the presidents and chancellors convene.
The filing states the SEC Constitution gives its presidents and chancellors broad authority over conference affairs and allows a member institution to be involuntarily removed by a two-thirds vote.
SEC lawyers also argue expulsion would instead constitute an exercise of the association's right to determine its own membership.
The conference says the Sept. 10 meeting will proceed, unless the developing litigation prevents it, with LSU's future in the SEC formally on the table
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