The can of worms has been ripped open and thrown into the Gulf of Mexico without any care in the world. In the 11th hour, Judge William Jorden granted an injunction allowing more than 40 athletes who had previously been on NFL rosters the right to return to the SEC for a fifth year. This includes a pair of former Ole Miss stars committed to play for LSU, the program Clemson will face on Saturday.
Jorden's ruling states that LSU, the NCAA, and the SEC all took part in "actions that negatively impact" the athletes. While the SEC vehemently disagrees with the ruling, LSU seems to be playing both sides here. They want to cooperate with the SEC and NCAA, but also have not closed the door on letting players like Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris suit up for the Tigers later in the season.
Wright had spent NFL training camp with the Cleveland Browns, while Harris had been just down the road with the New Orleans Saints. Although Dabo Swinney has expressed great displeasure with how Lane Kiffin is choosing to run his LSU program, the latter seems to have no problem pushing the envelope on the game's biggest issue today. LSU has until midnight on Friday to decide what to do.
The judge explicitly stated that LSU, NCAA and SEC are all enjoined from taking “actions that negatively impact” the athletes. https://t.co/iZliUu2VDd
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 4, 2026
Clemson might have to play 2 former NFL players when taking on LSU
What are the odds Harris and Wright suit up for LSU on Saturday night? While there is a non-zero chance that they do, there is a halfway decent shot that Kiffin holds them out for a few reasons. Even if they are in football shape, they have not spent a second on the LSU campus. It may be a home game, but they do not know the system or players that well. Plus, Clemson could potentially boycott.
While Swinney's Tigers do not play in the SEC, LSU's league has made it abundantly clear that it will not tolerate letting players renege on turning pro in favor of reclaiming some empty-calorie nonsense variation of amateur status. There have been threats of the SEC kicking LSU out of the league if the Tigers chose to go forward with this. Odds are, we might see something similar to Brendan Sorsby.
Texas Tech previously got a favorable ruling that would have allowed a veteran college quarterback who bet on games of teams he had been a part of the right to play. The Big 12 and the rest of college football were not having it. Sorsby lost his last final season of would-be eligibility because of this. However, the 5-in-5 ruling being applied to the class of 2022 has made this new case so compelling.
Since Harris and Wright both went undrafted, that could be a feather in their cap to potentially return to school. Clearly, Kiffin sees no issues with trying to use the rules to his advantage, no matter how unethical they might be. So let's throw morals out the window because some things are simply more important, such as winning football games. Clemson should not be thrilled following this court ruling.
No, Clemson did not deserve to be thrust into the crosshairs of Kiffin's rampant LSU shenanigans. Swinney and his team just want to play a football game. With Clemson at No. 11 LSU being the most high-profile game of Week 1, a faulty judicial ruling is playing its part in turning the greatest sport on the planet into a clown show. In the hopes that logic prevails, all of it has been thrown out the window.
Clemson was already up against it coming into Week 1, but this feckless ruling has made it more so.
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