With less than 36 hours to go until their first game of the season, the LSU football team still does not know who will suit up for the Tigers.
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The latest court order in a flurry of lawsuits, delivered late Thursday by a Louisiana judge, ruled in favor of the 42 athletes across sports who sued the Southeastern Conference seeking a fifth year of eligibility. The landmark decision clears the way for some former NFL players to return to college and play this season, in a reversal of the entire history of college athletics.
At least until the next lawsuit is decided. Hours earlier, the SEC sued LSU in federal court for the right to punish the school for breaking conference rules by recruiting professionals. If LSU rosters the players, and the SEC wins that case, the conference could suspend Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin for up to half the season and fine the school tens of millions of dollars.
This all stems from the NCAA’s new system giving athletes five years to play five seasons. The policy did not grandfather in the high school class of 2022, which was allowed to play only four seasons. Some five dozen lawsuits, filed by those athletes, seek to buy them one extra season of college sports.
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Those lawsuits could take months to play out, but NCAA rules require teams to set their rosters 24 hours before their first competition. LSU is set to face off against Clemson on Saturday in its season-opening game. That gives the Tigers until 6:30 p.m. Friday. Unless a court orders that rule changed, too.
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