Thursday the SEC votes on LSU. The roster is already closed.
Thursday the SEC votes on LSU. The roster is already closed.
By Rhett Landry
Baton Rouge filled the last two chairs on Tuesday night, and it was not with the names the lawsuit was built around. ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported LSU added cornerback Aidan Anding and defensive end Gabriel Reliford — both returning Tigers who’d been off the 105 — and that move locked the roster. Former Ole Miss / undrafted NFL rookies Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris are out of the picture for now. The Reveille put it flat on Wednesday: under the threat of expulsion, LSU filled without the former pros.
That is the concession. It is not the end of the fight.
The Southeastern Conference amended its federal lawsuit in Alabama on Tuesday and put a Thursday meeting on the calendar for presidents and chancellors to decide whether to terminate LSU’s membership. Reuters, ESPN, and Yahoo Sports all have the same spine: plenary power in the bylaws, a two-thirds threshold — 11 of 16 — and a temporary restraining order ask so LSU can’t block the room. The league’s own statement Tuesday morning said membership means a commitment to the rules the schools already agreed to. Sankey’s conference is suing a founding member that has worn purple since the SEC was a young idea. That sentence alone should make every Tiger fan sit up.
Kiffin already told GameDay the Clemson call — Wright and Harris not on the card for the 51-10 opener — was about the big picture of the program. He said postgame he believed they were fighting for what was right for those kids. Tuesday nights roster close is the school choosing survival over the fight in real time. Attorney Ryan Downton told ESPN his clients are weighing legal options. A Louisiana judge had already cleared a path with an injunction for the fifth-year group. None of that stopped the SEC from putting expulsion on the Thursday agenda anyway. Yahoo noted the vote could still land even after LSU renounced the pro-player path. Forced association, the filing argues. Institutional control, the filing argues. Plenary power does not need a soft landing.
Saturday is still Louisiana Tech in Tiger Stadium — 6:30 p.m. CT, SEC Network+ — and the No. 8 ranking that dropped earlier this week does not get a bye because Birmingham has a special meeting. Beat the Bulldogs. Stay 2-0. Oxford on Sept. 19 does not care how many lawyers are in the room on Thursday. If the presidents somehow go nuclear and the decision bites immediately, Yahoo floated the ugly hypothetical: Magnolia Bowl turns into a non-conference game. That is not a prediction. That is how loud this has gotten.
Wear purple. Watch Thursday. Then show up Saturday like the conference still belongs to the people who fill Death Valley, because until somebody prints a termination letter, it does.
https://capitolandcleats.com/blog/kiffin-wants-saturday-to-feel-like-saturday-again