SEC MULLS KICKING LSU OUT OF THE SEC OVER GUYS THE NFL CUT

LSU hosts Clemson on Saturday in Lane Kiffin's debut, and its own conference is currently discussing whether LSU should still be in the conference. Yahoo's Ross Dellenger reports high-ranking SEC school executives are exploring boycotting competition against LSU, putting the school on probation, expelling it outright, and filing a federal legal challenge. The talks are early and mostly between school presidents and their lawyers. One league stakeholder summed up the mood with "Enough is enough. This is ridiculous." The men worth blowing up a 16-school conference over: Dae'Quan Wright, a tight end the Browns waived, and Zxavian Harris, the 6-foot-8 defensive tackle who signed with the Saints, plus former Notre Dame pass rusher Junior Tuihalamaka, who never signed a pro contract at all. Baton Rouge judge William Jorden blocked the SEC from punishing schools that take them, and the league says it will comply for now and figure out next steps after the hearing. The SEC already had teeth here. Coaches face a half-season suspension and schools face a fine equal to 50% of that sport's annual operating budget plus revoked voting rights. All 16 athletic directors passed it, including LSU's, before LSU abstained from the presidents' vote. Expulsion appears nowhere in the SEC's 48-page bylaws, though a catch-all clause lets the CEOs impose any penalty they consider appropriate. Some outlets however are reading this a bit more straightforward, it's a bluff to make LSU fold, while the noise keeps Congress interested in handing college sports an antitrust exemption.

Why you should give a shit: The SEC ran this sport like a private country club for 40 years and now has to ask a Louisiana judge on Thursday for permission to punish anybody, which is the actual story: the conferences don't write the rules anymore, courts do.