Possible outcomes for tomorrow's hearing

September 3, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. in the 19th Judicial District Court for East Baton Rouge Parish.

Full win for the players. Judge Jorden grants the preliminary injunction substantially as requested. The protections continue while the case is litigated, the NCAA cannot use the challenged eligibility rules against the covered plaintiffs, and the SEC cannot use its new professional-athlete rule to punish the athletes, LSU, coaches, or other covered schools for complying with the order. This would be the strongest outcome for the plaintiffs.

Players win, but the judge narrows the order. Jorden could grant an injunction while limiting who or what it protects. For example, he could protect the original eligibility claims but impose conditions on athletes who signed professional contracts, received professional compensation, or participated in NFL activities. The existing TRO already requires covered players with professional contracts to terminate them and repay professional compensation before playing college games.

The fifth-year athletes win, but the SEC wins on the “professional athlete” issue. This is an especially important possibility. The judge could conclude that the NCAA cannot deny these athletes the disputed fifth season but also conclude that the SEC, as a voluntary conference, has the authority to impose its own eligibility standards regarding former professionals. In that scenario, some plaintiffs could have NCAA eligibility but still be unable to play at an SEC school. The SEC has specifically said it intends to defend its rights as a voluntary association tomorrow.

The players beat both rules, but only as applied to these plaintiffs. Jorden could block the NCAA and SEC from enforcing their rules against the named/protected athletes without declaring that every former professional athlete nationwide can return to college. That's an important distinction: the existing Louisiana order isn't a nationwide declaration that professional athletes can return to NCAA competition.

SEC/NCAA win and the TRO is dissolved or stayed. The judge could refuse to issue the preliminary injunction. The temporary protections would then end or be stayed, allowing the NCAA's eligibility restrictions and the SEC's professional-athlete rule to resume against these athletes, subject to any other court orders that separately protect an individual player.

A procedural/no-final-answer outcome. Jorden doesn't necessarily have to give everyone a clean yes/no tomorrow. He could take the matter under advisement, request additional briefing/evidence, extend or modify temporary protection while he considers the preliminary injunction, or issue only part of his decision from the bench.

There's also a separate show-cause issue tomorrow. The NCAA and SEC have been ordered to explain why the SEC's newly adopted professional-athlete penalties did not violate or interfere with the court's earlier TRO. So Jorden could rule on the injunction and separately decide whether there was a violation warranting further action.

At least 322 former college athletes are involved as plaintiffs in nearly 60 lawsuits challenging NCAA eligibility rules nationwide. According to the NCAA's latest comprehensive count, 184 of those athletes had obtained some form of judicial relief allowing or protecting their ability to compete, while 138 had not.