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By Rowan Fisher-Shotton
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The SEC and LSU are in the middle of a heated legal battle over roster eligibility. Several former players — some of whom signed pro contracts and even appeared in NFL preseason games — won a court ruling in Louisiana granting them a fifth year of college eligibility. That directly conflicts with NCAA and SEC rules, but a judge has blocked the conference from enforcing them. The SEC responded immediately, filing a lawsuit giving itself the power to expel LSU entirely, with a vote scheduled for Thursday.
On Wednesday's episode of "First Take," ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith made it clear how he feels about the situation, daring the SEC to throw LSU out of the conference.
"102,000 people showed up there Saturday night. They didn't get in for free. They paid," Smith said. "The university got paid for that. Clemson got paid for that. The SEC got paid for that. What are you talking about? And oh, by the way, Notre Dame — and we got love for little Notre Dame — they're an independent. LSU, you want to throw them out of the SEC? Go ahead and do it. Watch. They ain't gonna lose. They'll be just fine, especially in the age of Lane Kiffin. Could you imagine Lane Kiffin as an independent, out there in the open market, with the LSU brand? Please. They'll get paid. The SEC, sit your [expletive] down."
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While most college football programs joined conferences for scheduling and money, Notre Dame has stayed independent since the sport began there in the 1880s. And the Irish still built one of the strongest brands in football, relying on a strong nationwide schedule and a standalone TV deal with NBC that's lasted since 1991.
They've flirted with joining a conference a few times, especially during recent realignment waves, but always backed off, and yet remain one of the sport's true blue-blood programs.
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LSU already has that same kind of standing and doesn't need the SEC to generate attention. If the conference really wants to boot the Tigers and Lane Kiffin, it wouldn't take long for another conference to pick them up — or for LSU to pave its own way as an independent. Though it's worth noting that nobody actually expects that to happen, for the reasons Smith and his colleagues laid out on Wednesday.
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