The Southeastern Conference is going to war with one of the SEC’s most powerful football programs.After a judge on Thursday cleared former NFL players Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris to play for LSU during the Tigers’ 2026 season opener vs Clemson, the SEC promptly fired back at LSU.Lane Kiffin is taking on the SEC and the NCAA to start the 2026 seasonGetty“We disagree with the court’s decision,” the SEC said in a statement.“The SEC’s presidents and chancellors unanimously adopted a clear and reasonable standard: Member universities should not place former professional athletes on their rosters. The conference and its member universities have the right to establish, through agreed-upon governance procedures, the rules under which they voluntarily compete and to expect those rules to be followed.“The SEC will continue to defend this standard, the principle of fair competition, and the conference’s authority to govern competition among its member universities.”While the SEC was reacting to a legal ruling that favors LSU, the real target was controversial head coach Lane Kiffin. Kiffin has inserted chaos into the start of the college football season, affecting the NFL and the NCAA’s biggest conferences at the same time. “Honestly, it’s embarrassing,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney told reporters. “We have no rules. There’s no governance. It’s a joke. There are zero rules, and when you enforce rules, someone just goes and finds a judge that says, ‘No, you can’t enforce that.’ “Wright and Harris previously played at Ole Miss, an SEC school that Kiffin left last season via a highly controversial exit.Now, the former NFL players want to return to college and play for Kiffin at LSU. More than 40 athletes from various sports are suing the NCAA in the hope of playing a fifth and final season of college sports. The SEC is battling Lane Kiffin and LSU for the future of college footballgettyDae’Quan Wright signed with the Eagles and Browns in the NFLGettySEC and NCAA officials strongly oppose the return, insisting that there must be a dividing line between pro and college sports. But Judge William Jorden approved a preliminary injunction that prohibits the NCAA and SEC from punishing any school that puts the returning players on the field.SEC attorneys intend to file an appeal to the decision, while LSU must set its roster vs Clemson on Friday. Kiffin has been at the forefront of the push to embrace former pro players who want to return for a final college season.“Every one of them was emphatic about, ‘If they can help us win, bring ’em,'” Kiffin said Monday. “We understand we have a team that’s practiced together and worked together all offseason, but one of them said, ‘Hey, this is how it works at the next level, and this is how the real world works.’ “NFL's Greatest......Ranking the top 10......Quarterbacks of all-time – Can anyone better Tom Brady?Wide receivers of all-time – Does Randy Moss or Jerry Rice come out on top?Running backs of all-time – Stacking Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith and moreTight ends of all-time – How does Travis Kelce compare?Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr proposed removing LSU from the SEC if the Tigers choose to use former NFL players this season.“College athletics are for college athletes only, and we are grateful the SEC has taken swift action to maintain that standard,” Carr wrote in a letter. “However, the rules cannot be ignored or twisted to benefit one coach, one institution, or one program, and we refuse to stand by while that happens.”