SEC ‘deeply disappointed’ that LSU is asking federal judge to toss out SEC’s lawsuit
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The SEC released a response early Friday night to LSU officials and Louisiana’s attorney general asking a federal judge to throw out the SEC’s lawsuit entirely.
LSU is arguing that the SEC’s battle over the football program’s roster construction and threatening expulsion from the SEC is a moot point now, and the school went further in saying that it was never a real legal dispute to begin with.
The SEC sued LSU officials as well as Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin earlier this month, accusing LSU of a “deliberate and coordinated campaign” to recruit ex-NFL players for the 2026 season. The lawsuit argued that “LSU’s actions violated the SEC’s First Amendment right to choose who it associates with.”
LSU’s motion to dismiss the SEC’s lawsuit was filed on Friday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. It was filed two and a half weeks after a judge postponed a hearing regarding the SEC’s request to receive a restraining order only minutes before the hearing was set to begin.
The SEC’s response statement to LSU’s motion earlier on Friday explained that the conference was “deeply disappointed” that the motion was filed in the middle of settlement talks, and the SEC reiterated that the “underlying issues with LSU remain unresolved.”
Here is the SEC’s full response statement on Friday:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
