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Articles by Todd Horne
Todd Horne: SEC Pushes to Keep LSU Lawsuit Alive as Liz Murrill Calls It ‘Garbage’
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill called the SEC’s lawsuit against LSU “garbage” and urged its dismissal after the conference asked a federal judge to keep the case alive. (Social Media photo). TODD HORNE COLUMN By TODD HORNE Vice President & Executive Editor, Tiger Rag Dense fog in Baton Rouge kept Will Wade, Kim Mulkey and their players from getting to Birmingham for SEC basketball media days Tuesday morning. Their plane could not take off, so LSU’s coaches spoke remotely.
LSU Stopped Kentucky’s Tush Push, A Touchdown Followed | TODD HORNE
LSU and coach Lane Kiffin fell 35-34 to Kentucky in overtime, but a key call at the end of the first half changed the complexion of the game. (LSU Photo) Kentucky faced fourth-and-goal from LSU’s one-yard line and attempted a tush push. LSU stopped Kenny Minchey’s forward progress. He went backward, remaining horizontal atop other players. CJ Baxter pulled then pushed him into the end zone while other Wildcats pushed. Minchey did not need a knee on the ground or a whistle for the play to be over.
LSU’s 35–34 Loss at Kentucky Leaves No Margin for Error | TODD HORNE
LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt threw for 275 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score in the Tigers’ 35–34 overtime loss at Kentucky, dropping LSU to 4–2 overall and 1–2 in the SEC. (Photo: LSU Athletics) Kentucky 35, LSU 34 · Overtime · October 10, 2026 LEXINGTON, Ky. — They needed three yards. In the end, that’s all it was. Three lousy yards. Under the Kroger Field lights, LSU’s defense opened the middle of the field and left Kenny Minchey a clean, green path straight up the gut.
Todd Horne: LSU vs. Kentucky Tests Sam Leavitt’s Decision-Making
LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt enters Saturday’s SEC road game at Kentucky with eight touchdown passes and seven interceptions, making his decision-making a central focus for the Tigers. Tiger Rag photo by Jonathan Mailhes). Vice President & Executive Editor, Tiger Rag BATON ROUGE — Sam Leavitt has enough ability to turn a broken play into a touchdown. LSU’s next step may depend on how often he recognizes that a broken play should remain broken.
Todd Horne: LSU Football’s Real Test Begins After McNeese Rout
LSU head coach Lane Kiffin was mostly pleased with the Tigers' play on Saturday night. (Photo by Michael Bacigalupi) BATON ROUGE — LSU got its money’s worth, right down to the last snap. For $750,000, the Tigers bought an evening to polish their offense and brush up their defense, then turned a roster estimated to cost nearly $50 million loose on their Louisiana sibling from Lake Charles. McNeese State had a guaranteed payday and the prospect of a pardon from the sky.
LSU Title IX Case: What Police Knew—and When
Tiger Stadium on LSU’s Baton Rouge campus. Questions remain about what LSU Police knew and received during the university’s Title IX investigation involving football player Damien Shanklin. (Photo by Matthew Perschall) New York’s governor demanded to know what campus police actually sent prosecutors. LSU still has not publicly established that its police department or East Baton Rouge prosecutors received the evidence and final finding developed through Title IX.
Steve Scalise, Liz Murrill Give LSU Leverage in SEC Lawsuit | TODD HORNE
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey faces mounting legal and political pressure as LSU challenges the conference’s authority in federal court. (Photo credit: SEC) Todd Horne Column Liz Murrill made the SEC justify a lawsuit it refuses to drop. Steve Scalise denied college sports leaders the quick congressional action they wanted. LSU did not merely survive the conference’s power play. It turned the pressure back on Greg Sankey. Greg Sankey filed a federal lawsuit to put LSU on defense.
Lane Kiffin’s LSU Football Reset Arrives in 35-6 Rout of Texas A&M
LSU football coach Lane Kiffin applauds the Tigers during their dominant 35-6 victory over No. 23 Texas A&M on Saturday night in Tiger Stadium. Tiger Rag Todd Horne Column The Lane Kiffin Reset needed proof, not branding. Texas A&M supplied the perfect test Saturday night. Same opponent. Same stadium. Same halftime test. One year ago, the Aggies overpowered LSU 35–7 in the second half of a 49–25 victory that ended Brian Kelly’s coaching career the next day.
LSU Title IX Case: MOU Required Law-Enforcement Notice
LSU defensive end Damien Shanklin plays during the 2025 season. LSU Police identified him as the student-athlete who initiated the Oct. 18 police contact but did not identify him as the respondent in the Title IX proceeding. Todd Horne Commentary WAFB reported LSU did not refer an upheld forcible-rape finding for criminal prosecution.
LSU Football Defense Must Solve Marcel Reed Problem Against Texas A&M
LSU backup linebacker DaVohn Keys tackles Ole Miss running back Kewan Lacy during the Tigers’ loss Saturday night in Oxford. (TIGER RAG photo by Michael Bacigalupi) Lane Kiffin’s Monday review of LSU’s 32-24 loss at Ole Miss indirectly supported the central conclusion of my postgame column, but the point is no longer what happened Saturday night. LSU has a more urgent problem coming through the front door.
LSU’s Defense Arrived Too Late as Trinidad Chambliss Defied the Collapse at Ole Miss | TODD HORNE
Whit Weeks and the LSU defense make a tackle against Ole Miss after struggling to contain Trinidad Chambliss and the Rebels in the first half. (Tiger Rag Photo by Michael Bacigalupi) Tiger Rag Column LSU allowed Trinidad Chambliss to own the first half, found itself defensively after halftime and erased a 17-point deficit. Then the Ole Miss quarterback answered the defense the Tigers should have brought with them to Oxford. LSU’s defense sucked in the first half.
LSU vs. Ole Miss Prediction: Why Lane Kiffin’s Tigers Could Blow Out the Rebels in Oxford
LSU football coach Lane Kiffin raises both fists on the sideline during a game. Kiffin’s No. 7 Tigers face No. 8 Ole Miss in Saturday night’s top-10 SEC showdown in Oxford. (Tiger Rag photo by Michael Bacigalupi). Todd Horne’s Pick The Rebels have the home field, the more proven backfield and a former Kiffin lieutenant who knows where LSU can be hurt. The prediction here still calls for a rout—but only after the most dangerous portion of the night has passed.
Vulgar Attacks Against Landry Kiffin Expose The Point Where A Football Rivalry Stops Being Theater And Becomes Cruelty | Todd Horne
Landry Kiffin, center in white dress holding up two fingers, at her birthday party with family and friends at her birthday dinner last December. (Twitter photo). By TODD HORNE | Vice President and Executive Editor, Tiger Rag There are subjects I can approach as an editor, examine from several directions and write about with professional detachment. This is not one of them.
Louisiana Appeals Court Denies SEC Stay in NCAA Eligibility Lawsuit
The Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal denied the SEC and Commissioner Greg Sankey’s requests for a stay and supervisory writ, leaving the LSU eligibility injunction in effect. LSU Eligibility Litigation The First Circuit denied both the SEC’s requested stay and supervisory writ, finding that the conference and Commissioner Greg Sankey failed to show an abuse of discretion by the Baton Rouge district court.
LSU vs. Ole Miss PFF Grades: Protection, Pressure and the Matchups That Will Decide College Football’s Game of the Year
LSU coach Lane Kiffin wears a white Tigers visor and headset on the sideline during LSU’s 45-14 victory over Louisiana Tech, one week before the top-10 Ole Miss showdown. (Photo by Jonathan Mailhes) TigerRag.com Analysis Lane Kiffin identified the stresses awaiting LSU in Oxford. A snap-weighted analysis of PFF grades shows where Ole Miss can apply them—and where the Tigers can answer. Lane Kiffin walked into his Monday press conference carrying two versions of LSU’s trip to Oxford.
SEC Self-Governance: LSU Crisis Exposes the Risk
**Feature photo idea:** A wide horizontal image of SEC commissioner Greg Sankey speaking beneath a prominent SEC logo. It visually centers the conference authority examined in the column. **SEO cutline:** SEC commissioner Greg Sankey’s confrontation with LSU over Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris has become a larger test of SEC self-governance, eligibility rules and conference power. (SEC photo).
Lane Kiffin Got His Warning: LSU’s Sloppy Win Sets Up an Ole Miss Reckoning
LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt runs against Louisiana Tech during the Tigers’ 45-14 victory at Tiger Stadium. Leavitt rushed for three touchdowns and passed for a career-high 344 yards. Louisiana Tech gained no yards in the first half Saturday night. Not one. The Bulldogs made no first downs, ran only 20 plays and needed LSU to carry the football the final 100 yards to the end zone for them. Still, with a half of football gone, No. 8 LSU led 10–7.
SEC’s Lane Kiffin Grudge Fuels “Institutional Control” Attack on LSU
LSU football coach Lane Kiffin, wearing sunglasses before the Tigers’ 51-10 victory over Clemson at Tiger Stadium, is at the center of the SEC’s institutional-control dispute with LSU. (Tiger Rag photo by Jonathan Mailhes). The SEC is angry at Lane Kiffin. It has mistaken that anger for evidence. Then it turned its resentment toward one coach into an accusation that LSU lacks institutional control.
LSU Letter Undercuts SEC’s Emergency Case Against Tigers
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey knew LSU would not roster Dae’Quan Wright or Zxavian Harris before the conference escalated its federal lawsuit and membership dispute against the Tigers. Todd Horne Column LSU President Wade Rousse’s letter dismantles the emergency the conference carried into federal court—and confirms that this fight has moved from eligibility enforcement to institutional punishment. By Todd Horne | Vice President and Executive Editor, Tiger Rag Greg Sankey knew.
Liz Murrill Calls SEC Lawsuit Against LSU a ‘Collateral Attack’ as Tigers Fill 105-Man Roster
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill discusses the SEC lawsuit against LSU and calls the conference’s federal action a “collateral attack” on a Louisiana court order. (Social Media photo). Todd Horne Column While Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill was on Tiger Rag Radio calling the SEC’s federal lawsuit a “collateral attack,” LSU filled its final two roster spots and eliminated any possibility of adding Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris.
SEC Moves to Kick LSU Out: What Evidence Supports Its Claim?
LSU football coach Lane Kiffin is accused in the SEC lawsuit against LSU of helping engineer the NFL-player eligibility fight, but the conference cites little firsthand evidence. (Tiger Rag photo by Jonathan Mailhes). The Southeastern Conference is preparing for a Thursday meeting at which its presidents and chancellors will decide whether LSU should remain a member of the league.
LSU Football Proved Three Things in Its 51-10 Rout of Clemson
LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt helped power the Tigers’ dominant rushing attack in a 51-10 victory over Clemson in Lane Kiffin’s debut. MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK Lane Kiffin offered the funniest—and possibly most revealing—assessment of LSU’s 51-10 destruction of Clemson during his postgame interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “Our scout team scored more than they did against us.” That line will travel because it is vintage Kiffin: funny, cutting and delivered as casually as a weather report.
SEC Eligibility Fight: What Happened, What Tiger Rag Revealed and What Comes Next
LSU coach Lane Kiffin stands at the center of the SEC eligibility fight as court rulings, conference authority and the status of Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris remain under scrutiny. Tiger Rag Intelligence Report What happened, what ten Tiger Rag columns established and what comes next in the LSU–SEC fight I learned first-hand over the weekend that a lot of people are counting on Tiger Rag to make this eligibility fight understandable. They are not asking us to tell them whom to cheer for.
TODD HORNE: Lane Kiffin’s LSU Debut Delivers Historic 51-10 Rout of Clemson
LSU football coach Lane Kiffin watches from the Tiger Stadium sideline during his debut Saturday night, a dominant 51-10 season-opening victory over Clemson. (Photo by Jonathan Mailhes) Todd Horne Column Lightning sidelined Lane Kiffin’s LSU debut for nearly two hours, but it never cooled the fever in Tiger Stadium. When the storm finally cleared, the Bayou Bengals erupted, running Clemson out of Baton Rouge by a rolling 51–10 count. By midafternoon Saturday, LSU’s campus was already boiling.
LSU Football vs. Clemson: Lane Kiffin Era Opens With Historic Tiger Stadium Showdown
Lane Kiffin begins his LSU football era against Clemson in a historic season opener Saturday night at Tiger Stadium. There have been more highly ranked teams standing across the field from LSU on opening day. No. 1 Nebraska came into Tiger Stadium in 1976. No. 4 Alabama and Bear Bryant came in 1981. No. 7 Texas A&M came in 1986. Two years later, No. 10 A&M returned and LSU beat the Aggies 27-0. LSU has played gigantic openers away from Baton Rouge, too. No. 4 LSU beat No. 3 Oregon in Dallas in 2011.
Clemson Threatens LSU For Obeying Court
Clemson notified LSU that playing players who signed NFL contracts when the Tigers face off on Saturday could breach the schools' game contract.(Clemson photo). By TODD HORNE, Tiger Rag Vice President & Executive Editor Judge William Jorden did not issue an advisory opinion. Dae’Quan Wright had enrolled at LSU and begun practicing. Zxavian Harris testified that he wanted to play for LSU.
Nine Hours Under Oath Exposed the Problem With the SEC’s Eligibility Rules
Plaintiffs’ attorney Tony Clayton cross-examined SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey during the Baton Rouge eligibility hearing, where the conference’s definition of a professional athlete came under intense scrutiny. Tiger Rag Column | Inside Courtroom 10C The Rabbit Got the Gun — And Nobody Could Define a Pro Nine hours inside a packed Baton Rouge courtroom revealed everything wrong with the way college sports now makes its rules.
‘This Is About Power’: Greg Sankey Defends SEC Rule Under Oath in Baton Rouge
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey testified in a Baton Rouge courtroom on Thursday for over three hours. (SEC photo). By TODD HORNE, Tiger Rag Executive Editor BATON ROUGE — Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey spent more than three hours on the witness stand Thursday defending the SEC’s authority to keep former professional athletes from returning to college competition.
SEC Files Lawsuit Against LSU – President Wade Rousse, AD Verge Ausberry, Coach Lane Kiffin Named As Defendants
LSU football coach Lane Kiffin is one of the defendants in a lawsuit filed by the SEC against LSU on Thursday. (LSU photo). By TODD HORNE And KACE KIESCHNICK, TIGER RAG The Southeastern Conference has filed suit against LSU, president Wade Rousse athletics director Verge Ausberry and head football coach Lane Kiffin. SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is personally attending today’s proceedings at the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge.
Greg Sankey In Attendance For Former NFL Player Eligibility Hearing
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was named as one of the defendants in the Louisiana lawsuit of former college players seeking a fifth season of eligibility. (SEC photo). By TODD HORNE, Tiger Rag Vice President & Executive Editor SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is personally attending today’s eligibility hearing at the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge. Proceedings began promptly at 11 a.m. in Courtroom 10C, which is filled to capacity. Approximately 40 plaintiffs are present.
Louisiana AG Liz Murrill Puts SEC Authority at Center of Thursday Eligibility Hearing
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill, the state’s constitutionally designated chief legal officer, entered the college sports eligibility fight Wednesday night. She entered without pretending to possess an easy answer. Murrill did not demand that former professional athletes be permitted to play college football. She did not ask that Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey be held in contempt.
SEC Eligibility Fight Reaches Louisiana Court as Greg Sankey Defends Conference Authority
The Southeastern Conference has now placed into a Louisiana court filing the question it spent the last week trying to answer through rules, memoranda and threatened punishment. Who gets the final word? Not whether the SEC can make an eligibility rule. It plainly can. Not whether its members ordinarily agree to follow conference rules. They plainly do.
Jerry Stovall Dies at 85: The LSU Legend’s Life and Legacy
Jerry Stovall, LSU’s 1962 unanimous All-American and head football coach from 1980-83, died Monday at 85. His name and No. 21 are displayed in Tiger Stadium. (LSU Athletics images/Tiger Rag graphic) The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame preserved the contrast in its account of Jerry Stovall’s career. When LSU hired Stovall as its head football coach in January 1980, the family’s home filled with well-wishers and the telephone rang throughout the night. When LSU fired him four years later, no one came.
How LSU Navigates Court Eligibility Rulings Will Be Bigger Than Football
LSU football coach Lane Kiffin said on Monday that he is speaking with the SEC regularly as the Tigers welcome former professionals back to college football. (Tiger Rag photo by Michael Bacigalupi). The fight over college football eligibility is no longer just about eligibility.
What’s Really Going On in the College Football Eligibility Fights
(Photo by Matthew Perschall) If you still think the NCAA can simply write a rule and end the current upheaval in college sports, you’re viewing a 2026 business through a 2015 lens. Sunday provided another illustration. In the 21st minute of LSU’s soccer match against Arizona, defenders Jazmin Ferguson and Jocelyn Ollivierre stepped onto the field.
Lane Kiffin Interview: LSU, Sam Leavitt, NIL Pressure
Lane Kiffin rarely needs much help producing a headline, but some of his more revealing answers come when the subject is not the controversy surrounding him. That was the case in an exclusive interview with DJ Siddiqi of Covers.com, who sat down with LSU’s first-year coach ahead of a season carrying national-title expectations, a massive player budget and one of the most anticipated openers in college football.
SEC Eligibility Ruling: Sankey Will Comply as LSU Case Heads to Court
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey is at the center of the rapidly escalating college football eligibility fight after the SEC agreed to comply with a Louisiana court order temporarily blocking penalties against schools and coaches who sign or play covered former professional athletes.
SEC Eligibility Fight Raises a Bigger Question: What Defines a Pro?
Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, where LSU opens the Lane Kiffin era against Clemson as the SEC’s new eligibility rule raises questions about former professional athletes and who can compete in college football. Who’s ready for college football season? Nine days from now, No. 11 LSU opens the Lane Kiffin era against Clemson in Tiger Stadium. College GameDay will be in Baton Rouge for its 500th road show. The question is whether Dae’Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris will be there, too.
SEC Eligibility Rule Raises Bigger Question: Authority
The SEC’s new eligibility policy may ultimately have to survive scrutiny beyond the conference itself. Todd Horne Column The SEC can write the rule and enforce it inside the conference. The harder question is what happens when that authority reaches the courthouse. Ten minutes before we went on the air Tuesday night, the SEC rendered about 20 pages of my notes mostly useless.
TODD HORNE: Don’t Blame Lane Kiffin for the NCAA’s Eligibility Mess
LSU coach Lane Kiffin has become a central figure in the NCAA’s five-for-five eligibility dispute as the SEC pushes back on former professional players returning to college competition. The controversy centers on 2022-class athletes whose eligibility expired before the NCAA adopted its new five-year model. SEC’S FIVE-FOR-FIVE STAND IGNORES WHY LSU’S 2022-CLASS PLAYERS WENT PRO The SEC wants to punish 2022 signees for taking NFL opportunities after the NCAA told them their eligibility was gone.
Lane Kiffin’s Closed LSU Scrimmage Will Answer Major Questions
Lane Kiffin will get another major look at LSU’s progress Saturday morning when the Tigers hold a closed preseason scrimmage in Tiger Stadium. By TODD HORNE, EXECUTIVE EDITOR At 10 o’clock this morning, LSU will play one of its most important football games of the season. Nobody outside the program will see it. Lane Kiffin’s second major scrimmage of preseason camp is closed to the media.
Jayden Daniels, Joe Burrow and LSU’s No. 5 Fight: What the NIL Law and Jersey Rules Actually Say
LSU’s Own Bylaws Say No. 5 And No. 9 Can Be Worn Again. If Brian Kelly Had Promised DJ Pickett Joe Burrow’s Number, Lane Kiffin Should Have Honored That Promise, Too. Jayden Daniels has a legitimate argument that LSU cannot commercially use his name, image and likeness forever without his permission. He does not have a legitimate claim to ownership of No. 5. Those are separate issues, and almost everything about this increasingly strange dispute becomes clearer once they are treated that way.
Skip Bertman and his LSU Baseball Legacy | TODD HORNE
Legendary LSU baseball coach Skip Bertman, who built the Tigers into a national powerhouse and won five College World Series championships during his 18 seasons as head coach. Bertman died Aug. 14, 2026, at age 88. (TigerRag.com) Tiger Rag Column Skip Bertman won 870 games and five national championships at LSU. Over the final years of his life, Tiger Rag had unusual access to the coach who built the program.
LSU and the BUSINESS OF COLLEGE SPORTS
LSU Associate AD and CFO Matthew LaBorde has seen enormous change in his 15 years at LSU. (LSU Photo) Matthew LaBorde has watched the old assumptions about revenue, facilities, forecasting and even football scheduling disappear in real time By Todd Horne Tiger Rag Executive Editor Matthew LaBorde has spent 15 years inside LSU Athletics, but the most consequential period of that tenure may have been the last five.
LSU’s New Financial Plan Drawing Attention
LSU’s proposed financial model could use future broadcast revenue as the anchor asset for a new investment company funded with outside capital. The still-evolving structure raises fundamental questions about valuation, ownership, profit participation, capital allocation and long-term risk. — Tiger Rag Graphic Matt Hayes sees danger. Scott Rabalais sees a necessary gamble. Both raise legitimate concerns.
Attorney Asks Sheriff To Halt LSU EDD Tax Collections After Discovery Responses | Tiger Rag
A conceptual rendering of LSU’s proposed new Our Lady of the Lake Arena, shared by TheAdvocate.com on Instagram, shows the potential future home for LSU basketball and gymnastics as the university’s arena district plans face public scrutiny over tax funding.
EXPLAINING WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT LSU’S REPORTED NEW BUSINESS MODEL
(LSU photo). LouisianaSports.net reports LSU is pursuing an LSU-controlled investment structure—not a traditional private equity transaction. If accurate, the story is no longer about selling LSU Athletics. It is about how LSU hopes to build a perpetual revenue engine while maintaining institutional control.
Analysis: LSU Athletics’ Potential Creative Financing Plan
Tiger Stadium at Night. (LSU photo). TODD HORNE COLUMN An unconfirmed $100 million media-revenue transaction would not be traditional private equity. It could be something more carefully engineered – and every bit as consequential. Let us begin with what we know. Then let us separate it carefully from what we do not. LSU Athletics is facing an unprecedented financial problem.
LSU’s Reported Nine-Figure, Media Rights Deal Raises Questions About Outside Control
A group of 40 LSU donors are holding meetings with LSU leadership this week. (LSU photo). By TODD HORNE, Tiger Rag Executive Editor BATON ROUGE – Six months after LSU Athletic Director Verge Ausberry warned about the long-term risks of private equity in an exclusive interview with Tiger Rag, reports now indicate LSU Athletics has entered into a private financing investment in the hundreds of millions of dollars involving LSU’s future media-rights revenue, largely regarding football.
LSU Football’s $40 Million Bet
By TODD HORNE Vice President & Executive Editor LSU has not released a payroll sheet for Lane Kiffin’s first football roster. There is no public, player-by-player accounting of direct revenue-sharing payments, third-party name, image and likeness agreements or the private commitments required to retain returning players and attract transfers. But the available evidence points in one direction.
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