A lot of folks have already moved on like LSU’s eligibility fight got wrapped up in Louisiana courtrooms.
That read might be too quick.
Attorney Tom Mars thinks the SEC still has a move left to make and it could change the whole shape of this fight.
Until the conference actually plays that card, treating this as settled business is jumping the gun.
None of this actually touches Ole Miss anymore, and that’s exactly why the Rebs can sit back and grin about it.
That baggage boarded a plane in Oxford back in December headed straight for Baton Rouge, and it’s not coming back. Ole Miss fans are probably just giggling at this point while LSU sorts out a mess it inherited along with a new coach.
The Rebels have their own business to handle with a season opener a week away, and this legal tangle isn’t part of it.
What happens in Nashville next Sunday night against Louisville at the Tennessee Titans’ stadium is considerably more important around these parts than whether their former coach gets a couple of players off the NFL waiver wire to suit up.
Two of the names caught up in the fight, Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris, used to suit up for the Rebels before trying their luck in NFL camps.
Both tried the NFL route first and are only now looking to land back on a college roster, and it’s the school that lured Lane Kiffin away that’s stuck sorting it out.
The Rebs didn’t ask for a front row seat to this but they’ve got one anyway.
The @SEC legal strategy seems blindingly obvious. The Conference will take action either in federal court or by appealing and asking the state appeals courts to stay whatever lower court injunctions have been issued in favor of former NFL players – or, more likely, they’ll do… https://t.co/Z6lynhB8nr
— Tom Mars (@TomMarsLaw) August 27, 2026
Mars says the SEC isn’t out of options
Mars posted on X that “the @SEC legal strategy seems blindingly obvious,” and his point wasn’t that the fight is over. It’s that the conference still has clear paths left to pursue.
One option sends the SEC into federal court on its own.
The other has the conference challenging the state court decisions directly and pushing an appeals court to put those rulings on hold until the case fully plays out.
That second option matters because it means the Louisiana rulings favoring the former NFL players don’t have to be the last word.
Mars pointed to the Big 12’s fight with quarterback Brendan Sorsby as a preview of what could come next.
A Texas judge granted Sorsby a short-term win, and the Big 12 turned around and sued in federal court to protect its ability to discipline any school that kept playing him regardless.
Mars thinks the SEC could lean on that same strategy instead of standing down. That’s not a binding legal opinion but what an experienced attorney is noting from outside the actual fight.
The stakes are still climbing for LSU
The rule at the heart of this keeps out any athlete who put pen to paper on a pro deal, showed up on certain pro team rosters or went into select drafts without pulling out the right way beforehand.
That puts Wright and Harris directly in the crosshairs, since both went the pro route first before turning their attention back to a college roster spot.
The penalties tied to breaking that rule aren’t light either. Reports say a violation could cost a head coach roughly half his season on the sideline, along with a fine equal to half of that sport’s entire budget for the year.
LSU was the only program that didn’t back the penalty plan, abstaining when it cleared by a 15-0 vote.
Lawyers for the players see it differently, arguing the Louisiana rulings already reach beyond individual eligibility and into how the conference can enforce its own rulebook.
Mars, though, waves off any suggestion that the SEC has stepped over the line into contempt.
He’s careful to frame it all as his own read of the situation rather than confirmation that Sankey has actually greenlit a lawsuit or an appeal behind the scenes.
So far the conference has kept quiet on which direction it plans to take.
Nope, this isn’t wrapped up just because a Louisiana court ruled once.
If Mars is right about the SEC still holding cards to play, LSU could be dealing with this fight well into the season.
Ole Miss fans get to watch it from a safe distance, focus on their opener and enjoy the show a little longer.
