SEC vs. LSU federal court hearing continued as conference drama cools off
Chaos has been put on hold — for now.
The SEC vs. LSU drama appears to be cooling off. Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the SEC-LSU federal court hearing scheduled for Wednesday has been continued, meaning it will be heard at a later, unspecified date.
The development came after LSU filled the remaining two spots on its roster Tuesday night, removing the possibility of adding Zxavian Harris or Dae’Quan Wright later. Ross Dellenger also noted that the potential vote to expel LSU from the conference has been removed from Thursday’s agenda.
The real concern inside the SEC
One detail stood out while reading through the reporting on this situation. ESPN’s Dan Wetzel noted that many people within the SEC are not happy with who’s pulling the strings. It’s not Lane Kiffin, conference president Walter Rouse, or athletic director Verge Ausberry. The concern centers on the political influence of Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, whose confrontational approach has rubbed a lot of people in the SEC the wrong way.
However, one thing was clear that nobody really wanted to admit: LSU had zero chance of getting kicked out of the SEC, no matter how dramatically this whole thing was painted.
There was no way the conference was going to remove one of its biggest brands, a program that has been one of its most successful teams in every single sport. Not to mention, a move like that would have completely destroyed the SEC’s media rights deal. Getting rid of a team like LSU would likely have required ESPN’s approval.
The theatrics made for compelling headlines, but the reality was never really in doubt.
