LSU won its court fight this week.
Then the school turned around and left two former NFL players off its roster anyway.
Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris didn’t suit up for the Tigers’ season opener against Clemson on Saturday night. That’s notable because a judge had just cleared a path for them to play.
Both players used to star at Ole Miss. Wright spent brief time with the Philadelphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns before those teams cut him and he signed with LSU.
Harris signed with the New Orleans Saints back in May before he also landed with the Tigers.
A judge granted a preliminary injunction on Thursday. That ruling opened the door for LSU to add both men to Saturday’s lineup if the school chose to.
LSU had two open roster spots ready and waiting. Coach Lane Kiffin could have filled them with Wright and Harris right away.
Instead the program decided to hold off for now. Both players remain enrolled at LSU so they can still join the roster later this season.
Why LSU is playing it safe
The SEC didn’t take LSU’s plan quietly. The conference filed its own lawsuit against LSU and Kiffin on Thursday.
In that filing the SEC claimed the school and its coach “waged a deliberate and coordinated campaign to recruit professional athletes” who had already signed NFL deals.
The league wants a court to say it can enforce its own membership rules.
Back in August every Power Four conference agreed to ban pro players from returning to their ranks. That policy was built to stop exactly what LSU tried to pull off.
There’s a wrinkle though. Wright and Harris got a temporary restraining order before that ban ever applied to their situation. So their case sat in a gray area for weeks.
Kiffin first said LSU would follow the SEC’s new rule without a fight.
Then as the legal picture got messier he said the program would wait and see how Thursday’s hearing turned out before making a call.
Georgia’s attorney general got involved too.
He called on SEC schools to consider harsh punishment for LSU up to and including suspension or expulsion if the Tigers played their former pros.
What happens next for the Tigers
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney weighed in before kickoff too. He called the whole idea of NFL players returning to college ball “embarrassing.”
Leaving Harris and Wright off Saturday’s roster doesn’t close the book on this story.
The judge’s ruling still blocks LSU from taking any action that would stop the two men from eventually competing.
That means keeping them sidelined for weeks could spark more legal battles down the road.
Every other SEC program is watching closely too. However this fight ends up shaping eligibility rules for years to come.
For now Tigers fans get a season opener without any roster controversy on the field.
Whether Wright and Harris ever pull on the purple and gold in 2026 is still very much up in the air.
