All eyes turn to federal court in Alabama as SEC tries to ban former pros from LSU roster

Key Points:

• The Southeastern Conference (SEC) has filed a federal lawsuit in Alabama against LSU and its officials to prevent the school from adding players who spent time with NFL teams to its football roster, following a state court ruling in Louisiana that favored LSU.
• The dispute centers on the NCAA’s new eligibility rule granting five seasons of play but excluding players who graduated high school in 2022, with the SEC and other power conferences banning former professionals from returning to college play.
• LSU won a preliminary injunction in Louisiana state court barring the SEC and NCAA from punishing schools for roster additions of ex-professional players, allowing LSU to potentially add two such players, Zxavian Harris and Dae’Quan Wright, to its team.
• The SEC argues that allowing former pros on rosters violates its "Professionalism Rules," which it sees as essential to maintaining fair competition and the distinction between college and professional sports, framing the federal lawsuit as a First Amendment issue.
• Louisiana officials, including the state Attorney General and Governor, have criticized the SEC’s federal lawsuit, viewing it as an attempt to intimidate the state court and support LSU’s position that these players are still college athletes, not professionals returning after long NFL careers.