SEC accuses LSU of defying its rules as Will Wades basketball roster adds fuel to a burning fire

A legal battle between the LSU Tigers athletic department and the Southeastern Conference continues to play out in the Northern District Court of Alabama, with an explosive filing on Tuesday evening.

If the SEC has its way, the case will linger until LSU acknowledges that it attempted to skirt the conferences professionalism rules by recruiting — and potentially signing — athletes with professional experience in the NFL or NBA, or until LSU accepts some type of punishment without using a courtroom as a shield.

The ongoing saga between one of the SECs biggest schools and the conference it resides in has pushed both sides toward a war over the limits of what LSU is permitted to do under league rules.

Dating back to before the college football season started, multiple athletes at first sued the NCAA for an additional year of eligibility based off the new guidelines that were enacted over how many years an athlete can play collegiate sports.

When passed in June, the NCAA made it clear that while athletes would now have five years to play five seasons, they left out the 2022 class.

This has led to a plethora of lawsuits being filed across the country, as some judges are granting athletes an additional season based on the NCAA's lack of grandfathering in the 2022 class, while the NCAA has been hellbent to fight each case presented in front of a local judge for consideration.

But after a Louisiana district court judge ruled that DaeQuan Wright and Zxavian Harris were eligible to play this season following their professional football experience, the SEC and other conferences adopted a rule barring athletes with professional experience from returning to college sports.

LSU MIGHT HAVE TO SUE THE SEC IF THIS LEGAL WAR IS EXPEDITED, WHILE DABO SWINNEY IS STAYING IN HIS 'LANE'

This led to attorneys for the plaintiffs adding the SEC to the ongoing lawsuit in a Baton Rouge court, which ultimately saw commissioner Greg Sankey taking the witness stand for over five hours on that Thursday before LSU would take the field against Clemson.

It was not 20 minutes into his testimony that word started leaking from within the courtroom that the SEC had filed its own lawsuit against LSU, Lane Kiffin, President Wade Rousse and others within the Tigers administration for encroaching on their first amendment rights to govern themselves within the conference.

LSU HOLDS OFF ON ADDING PLAYERS WITH NFL TIES AS SEC LAWSUIT LOOMS OVER PROGRAM, LANE KIFFIN

If you were wondering why the SEC thought it would be best to file this type of lawsuit against a member institution, the conference is working under the impression that LSU would continue using the court system to maneuver around the enforcement of rules.

"That threat is not hypothetical. Defendants have already shown they will use Louisianas courts to stop the Conference from governing itself," the SEC stated in a filing on Tuesday. "Working hand in glove with the Pyburn plaintiffs, they helped obtain state-court orders that bar the Conference from enforcing the Professionalism Rules."

Just like a tale out of a John