LSU and the SEC have been fighting over two players, Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, who'd signed NFL contracts before trying to return to college ball. A Louisiana judge sided with them, barring the NCAA and SEC from punishing LSU for rostering the two players. But LSU beat Clemson 51-10 on September 5 without playing either one. On September 8, the SEC amended its federal lawsuit against LSU and coach Lane Kiffin. It asked a judge for authority to expel LSU from the conference, and scheduled a September 10 vote of SEC presidents to decide. That night, LSU locked its roster without Wright or Harris. The next morning, LSU President Wade Rousse told the SEC the fight was "moot." By Wednesday evening, a person familiar with the matter told the AP that Thursday's vote was no longer expected to happen.

1. The SEC (Commissioner Greg Sankey) — Rules Are Rules, Even for LSU

The SEC says membership is voluntary, and it won't keep a member that breaks its rules.

LSU could follow the rules or leave the conference. The SEC's amended lawsuit argued that keeping a rule-breaking LSU as a member "violates the Conference's fundamental First Amendment rights" as a voluntary association.

The SEC didn't drop the threat until LSU complied. Sankey confirmed Thursday's meeting would go on, but with a "revised agenda" that dropped the expulsion question. That change came only after LSU had already locked both players out.

The SEC isn't calling this solved. Its own court filing says conference leaders agreed LSU's continued membership "would be inconsistent with the publicly stated values and principles of the conference and its remaining member institutions." That's true regardless of how the roster shook out.

In 94 years, the SEC has never expelled a school. It didn't need to start now. The threat alone got LSU to fold. A person familiar with the matter told the AP by Wednesday evening that the vote was no longer expected.

2. LSU's Leadership (President Wade Rousse and Coach Lane Kiffin) — Membership Came First

They said the players deserved to play, then benched them to keep LSU in the SEC.

Kiffin admitted the players had a legitimate case. "As much as I feel for the players, and I believe that you fight for what you believe in, and I believe these kids have an opportunity to play just like all the other kids around the country that are winning court cases and being put on rosters," he said on College GameDay that same Saturday.

He benched them anyway. Kiffin said he "had to make a decision that is for the big picture of LSU and the LSU football program." He pointed to the uncertainty of what might follow if LSU kept fighting the SEC.

Rousse ended it in writing. His letter to Sankey called the fight "moot" now that "the roster is locked for the season." He also pledged LSU wouldn't challenge or disrupt Thursday's meeting.

3. The Players' Side (Louisiana AG Liz Murrill) — A Court Win That Got Overridden

They say the SEC used the threat of expulsion to get around a judge's ruling it didn't like.

Murrill calls the SEC's federal case a "collateral attack" on Louisiana's court. She argued on Tiger Rag Radio that the SEC filed in Alabama to route around Judge Jorden's injunction rather than appeal it through Louisiana's own courts.

The SEC wanted Murrill barred from Thursday's vote. It named her as a defendant, along with Rousse, Kiffin, and other LSU officials, and asked a federal court to stop all of them from interfering with the vote.

Wright and Harris won in court and still didn't get to play. Judge Jorden ruled that the SEC couldn't punish LSU for rostering them. LSU rostered two other players instead.

4. Rival Coaches (Dabo Swinney and Steve Sarkisian) — The Rule Itself Is the Problem

Other coaches say the real problem is letting players bounce from the NFL back to college.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney calls the whole situation embarrassing. "I don't blame the kids, but people trying to take advantage of the system," he said. "It's embarrassing, but we've been there for a while."

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian calls it morally wrong. Sarkisian said pulling a player off an NFL roster and back into college ball after nine months away "doesn't sit well" with him. "That, morally, is wrong," he said.

Colts GM Chris Ballard doesn't get the rule at all. "That's the stupidest [expletive] I've ever heard," he said. "Your entire life, you fight to get up to the NFL. But now we're gonna go back?"

Where This Lands

The SEC got LSU to bench two players. A Louisiana judge had already said LSU didn't have to bench them. And the SEC never even had to take Thursday's vote. LSU's leadership says it made the safe call for the program. Murrill and the players' side say a conference used the threat of expulsion to override a court that had already ruled against it. Rival coaches say both sides are missing the point. They say the real problem is the eligibility rule that put a school in this position in the first place. The SEC's own court filing makes clear it still sees LSU's conduct as a problem, even with the roster fixed. The conference also has new tools short of expulsion: coach suspensions, fines up to half a sport's budget, and restricted voting rights. It can use those if this comes up again.

Sources