Where Lane Kiffin goes, the drama follows.
Now, as the head coach of the LSU Tigers, Kiffin has cemented himself and his program as the centerpiece of the eligibility saga currently unfolding across all of college football.
The SEC ruled that any player who had signed a contract (of any form) at the next level, whether that be in the NFL, NBA, WNBA, etc., could not return to the collegiate level. Almost immediately, it looked like Kiffin and the Tigers were ready to ignore what their conference was implementing and bring former NFL signees to Baton Rouge.
Even when a U.S. Circuit Court judge out of Dallas signed an order that neither the SEC nor the NCAA could ban an athlete from returning to college, it felt extremely unwise for LSU to go directly against the commands of its own conference, a conference that it helped found nearly a century ago.
Of course, the SEC was in direct disagreement with what the Dallas judge had ruled and wasn't willing to just back down, urging Kiffin to refrain from adding former NFL players to his roster. Kiffin told ESPN that if a court ruled that he couldn't do so, he wouldn't. He never explicitly said he would heed the conference's decision.
Now, it seems like things are truly coming to a T for the LSU Tigers, and it might be one of the best things the Texas Longhorns have heard all offseason.
According to a recent report from Yahoo Sports, members of the SEC are considering "extreme steps over LSU's plan to sign former pro athletes, including potential expulsion, competition boycott and federal lawsuit," as both Kiffin and Tigers basketball coach Will Wade continue their plans to do so.
SEC boycott could allow Horns to escape Tigers scratch-free
Of course, the Horns are currently scheduled to visit the Tigers on Saturday, Nov. 14, just a couple of weeks before the regular season ends.
However, if SEC school leaders and University officials vote to expel LSU this season, or unanimously vote to boycott their games against the Tigers, then Texas would suddenly have a hall pass from having to play them on the road.
Now, any game that teams boycotted against the Tigers would likely be viewed as a "forfeit" and would technically be a loss on their resume. Yet, this type of loss would look significantly better to the College Football Playoff committee than if the Horns went to Death Valley and were walloped by LSU.
In fact, just a few hours before the Yahoo Sports report was released, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian shared that he believes bringing back a former professional player just to cut someone who had been with the team for the past "nine months" would be "morally wrong."
Ultimately, Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger shared that the SEC Presidents and Athletic Directors may not be completely aware of what they can actually do or not, but that one school staff member said that the "risk is enormous for LSU" if Kiffin doesn't change his tune.
Clearly, the conference members aren't done standing up for what they believe is right or wrong on the matter, and it might be time for Kiffin to finally admit that playing the villain doesn't always work out.
Of course, the odds of the conference actually moving forward with this motion may be pretty slim, especially if SEC commissioner Greg Sankey has anything to say about it. But... what if?
Add us as a preferred source on Google