SEC irked LSU is trying to dismiss suit with issue 'unresolved'

The SEC said it was "deeply disappointed" in LSU's attempt to dismiss the conference's federal lawsuit against the university and its officials during their ongoing negotiations to end the dispute over the Tigers' previous endeavor to add former NFL players to their roster.

On Friday, Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill, who was named a defendant in the SEC's lawsuit, filed a motion in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama to dismiss the league's complaint with prejudice and at the SEC's cost.

Murrill wrote in the motion that the SEC has no personal jurisdiction over the defendants and the complaint "fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted."

On Sept. 8, the SEC filed an amended complaint regarding LSU coach Lane Kiffin's plans to add former NFL players to his roster. The SEC scheduled a vote of its presidents on whether to expel the Tigers from the league.

However, that vote never happened after LSU opted not to add tight end Dae'Quan Wright and defensive tackle Zxavian Harris, who both had spent time in NFL training camps before returning to school. Kiffin added two injured players to complete his 105-man roster for the 2026 season, a decision that seemed to defuse the brewing tensions between the league and one of its founding members.

But Murrill's motion Friday signaled that the standoff isn't over.

"In the intervening weeks, material developments have confirmed that this lawsuit was unwarranted when it was filed -- and, more importantly, that the lawsuit is unwarranted today," Murrill wrote. "The SEC filed its suit and motion for preliminary relief primarily because of claimed fears over Louisiana State University (LSU) rostering certain football players or interfering with an SEC meeting on September 10.

"The players in question were not, in fact, rostered -- and LSU's football roster is full and closed for the 2026-27 football season. The September 10 meeting, moreover, came and went without a problem. The SEC thus faces no imminent, concrete harm that could establish a case or controversy."

Murrill also said in the motion that the SEC's "core (and odd) complaint" -- that it suffers First Amendment harm from being forced to associate with LSU -- is "self-inflicted."

"Any harm from continued association is not forced upon the SEC," Murrill wrote. "Indeed, as only one member of a 16-member unincorporated association, LSU has no power to force the SEC to do anything."

Along with Murrill and Kiffin, the SEC had named LSU president Wade Rousse, athletics director Verge Ausberry and members of LSU's board of supervisors as defendants.

Murrill argued that the SEC can't "overcome other obvious jurisdictional obstacles to this suit."

"Each Defendant is a state official sued in his or her official capacity -- and thus cloaked with sovereign immunity," Murrill wrote. "The SEC's filings do not even attempt to explain how it can circumvent that immunity. For good reason: It cannot."

The SEC and LSU officials had been in discussions this week about how to reach a resolution.

"The Southeastern Conference is aware of the motion filed Friday by LSU officials and the Louisiana Attorney General seeking dismissal of the conference's federal lawsuit," the SEC said in a statement. "We are deeply disappointed that this filing came amid efforts to reach a resolution with LSU that would address our other member universities' concerns about LSU's commitment to the conference's rules and shared governance responsibilities.

"Those concerns remain unresolved. The conference is preparing its response in court and will uphold the standards agreed upon by its member universities and the responsibilities of conference membership."

The SEC had previously said its presidents and chancellors would meet to decide whether to terminate LSU as an SEC member institution pursuant to Section 3.1.5 of the league's constitution and bylaws, which gives the presidents the "plenary power and authority with respect to all affairs of the Conference of any type or nature whatsoever," including the power to "[t]ake all actions specified and contemplated in Article 3 [of the Constitution] in their sole discretion."

Under SEC rules, a vote of at least two-thirds of all the presidents is required to terminate a school's membership.