This could get ugly. With kickoff between Clemson and No. 11 LSU a little more than 24 hours away, it remains to be seen if LSU will actually go forward and try to play former NFL players in Week 1. Judge William Jorden's ruling has afforded two would-be LSU players the right to play. Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris may have been on NFL rosters this summer, but sure, they can suit up versus Clemson.
While LSU has until midnight on Friday evening to decide what it wants to do, Clemson could exercise a breach of contract. Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger reported on the issue at hand, citing, "Clemson has notified LSU that playing former professional players on Saturday may breach the game contract between the schools." Clemson does plan to play the game and will not seek any financial damages.
Since it is a non-conference game between two Power Four programs, it may not land as poorly as it does in the SEC. LSU's conference foes are livid that Lane Kiffin is trying to play NFL players anyway. Any shame that man had went by the wayside a long time ago. While Dabo Swinney may just want to play this game as it is, we could be looking at more of an unfair fight than we even realized coming in.
Legal ramifications rear their ugly heads before Clemson-LSU kickoff
With Clemson on its way to Baton Rouge, it may take heaven and earth to prevent Swinney from playing this game. In a way, Clemson may not be punished for losing, but potentially rewarded if they were to pull off the upset bid. FanDuel Sportsbook has Clemson getting 10.5 points from LSU coming in. The big question is whether the legal ramifications will outweigh the ethicality of even playing it.
Given that this is the biggest game of the week, it would be a shame if it were not played because of the mitigating circumstances. Clemson has every right to exercise its breach of contract clause if it so chooses. Hoping logic would prevail in this situation has taken us to a maddening place. College athletics are propped up by amateurism, not by former professionals masquerading as students.
With the SEC and NCAA absolutely livid over what Kiffin and the LSU program are trying to do, the Tigers may be pressured into caving on their idea of playing former professionals. Who cares if the NCAA and SEC allegedly acted in bad faith? They are trying to save the sport! This is why Brendan Sorsby cannot play games for Texas Tech this season. He gambled his final year of eligibility away.
For now, Clemson seems to be going about this the right way, or at least Swinney is giving off that sort of impression. He can only control what he can control. It seems from afar that Kiffin is more concerned about getting these two former UDFAs out of Ole Miss onto his LSU roster than actually winning this game. LSU may be favored, but those Tigers are not going to cakewalk past Clemson.
If there was ever a time to hop on Clemson being America's Team of the Week bandwagon, this is it.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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