September 4, 2026 • 10 mins
Friday on The Dan Mathews Show, Locked On LSU’s Matt Moscona discussed the latest developments in LSU’s battle with the SEC and NCAA after a Louisiana judge ruled against the NCAA, clearing a path for former NFL players to join the Tigers’ roster. Moscona explained what the ruling means for LSU and how this situation could ultimately shake out. Be sure to listen to the full interview for his insight on what comes next.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Matt Moscona, ESPN 104.5 there in Baton Rouge. Also, LouisianaSports.net.
You can find him every single weekday afternoon on his
show after further review. Scone, I mean, yesterday, did it
kind of feel like it's a culmination of all of this,
or do you feel like this is now just the
beginning of this battle between LSU and the SEC?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yeah, it's... Hey, Dan, it's... I.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Don't know that I would say it's a culmination, but
it was the next big step. Because I certainly don't
think The legal entanglement is over. I do anticipate that
the SEC, the NCAA will appeal, likely all the way
to the state Supreme Court. And then another component of
this as well, I'm.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Sure we'll talk about, but.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
If the players are not rostered, and I've been told this,
people intimately familiar with the case throughout, is that the
players would seek civil damages.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
They lost wages and things like that.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
If they are given a court order to play and
are not rostered or allowed to play, then you could
see a civil case against the NCAA, the SEC, and
possibly schools.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
So that happened actually this week at Missouri.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
A player there filed suit against Missouri after they made
the decision not to roster these players. So this is
a big legal step, but I think it's far from done.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
And then, I mean, where things stand with this right now?
I mean, where is the LSU fan base in terms
of handling all of this? Are they kind of looking
at Lane and being like, dude, this isn't worth it. Like,
what are you doing? Or do you feel like people
are saying, yeah, you know what? Screw the SEC. Screw
the NCAA. Just go ahead and play them and see
where this goes.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
I think you definitely have a portion of the fan
base that continues to ask the question, is the juice
worth the squeeze? I think And I understand that. I
think LSU leadership, however, has to ask a very different question. Primarily,
(02:06):
when you look at what happened yesterday, and Dan, this
is probably the biggest misconception people have with this entire situation.
LSU was not involved in the lawsuit. LSU did not
sue anybody. Nobody was suing LSU. What happened in Louisiana yesterday,
there were 42 college athletes, some who attended LSU, some
(02:26):
who attended other schools, some who play football, some who
play soccer.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Men's and women's basketball, lots of different sports.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
And those athletes sued the NCAA to regain their year of.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Eligibility they feel they're entitled to. So a court gave
them that injunction.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
And then what happened yesterday also is that Judge Jordan
in Baton Rouge said, and joined LSU into the lawsuit,
which effectively means if LSU does not roster those football players,
now LSU is in contempt of court. So the leadership
at LSU now has to say, well, do we really
want to run.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Astray of a court order?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Or do we want to contest the Southeastern Conference and
their rules? So they're stuck between a rock and a
hard place right now. And I think what's notable is precedent.
Over the last five years, with all of these court
cases for eligibility, there has never, not once, never been
a situation where a player was awarded a court order
(03:31):
and did not play. Even Charles Bediako played those five
games at Alabama last year when he received a temporary
restraining order. So while I understand there's some fan sentiment
that this is uncomfortable and they don't like it, LSU
leadership has to look through a different prism.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Again, he is.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Matt Moscona, ESPN 104.5, joining us here on the Dan
Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790. And you can also find
Matt every single weekday afternoon on his show after further
review there in Baton Rouge and.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Throughout Southern Louisiana.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Hey, Matt, I mean, we'll get to the actual on-field
stuff in a second because, I mean, it does seem
like LSU's got a lot to be excited about this season,
much like most seasons. But, I mean, to kind of
wrap up all of this with the off-field and legal
side of it, I mean, is there a part of
you that's like, okay, you guys are all making this
an LSU thing, but like, Are we really going to
(04:25):
gloss over the fact that Texas had a guy that
was in minicamp with the Cowboys and nobody said a
word about him or anybody else?
Speaker 4 (04:32):
It kind of seems like there's selective outrage here.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I think that certainly has been the case, and I understand.
LSU is a big brand. Lane Kiffin is a lightning rod.
I do understand why LSU is at the forefront. The
truth is, and I don't know if this is just
willful ignorance on the parts of many or just people
taking a surface-level view. But there are presently– and these
(05:01):
aren't my numbers. The NCAA released a memo last Friday.
There are 60 lawsuits around the country involving more than
300 athletes. And this has become hyper-focused on LSU because
of Lane Kiffin, and I understand that. But my point
has been the problem when you dabble in areas of
gray– is we start to have this conversation, Dan, like
(05:25):
you're just talking about Cole Hudson, the Texas offensive lineman.
He put on a Cleveland Browns uniform. He practiced with
the team. He put on a Dallas Cowboys uniform. He
practiced with the team. Somehow that's okay because he didn't
sign a contract, but Zavian Harris, who signed a contract
with the Saints and testified under oath yesterday. All he
(05:47):
received was $ 190 in gas money and never stepped on
the field because he was recovering from a foot injury.
I didn't take a single practice rep, but he's a,
he's a former NFL player. So that's the problem when
you deal in areas of gray, because then so much
subjectivity enters into these conversations. And the obvious question is, well,
(06:09):
how do you fix that? Well, it's what the NCAA
should have done from the beginning, which was award a
blanket waiver. This has to be binary. There's up, down,
there's left, right, there's good, bad, there's black, white. In
this instance, it's either they all play or none of
them play. Because when you introduce areas of gray, now
you have this conversation that it's almost impossible to differentiate.
And that's why this has been so messy. The NCAA
(06:32):
has been an awful organization that's lacked leadership throughout much
of its existence. And this is another illustration of a
situation where they were warned when they passed the new
five for five and the way they worded it, that
they didn't grant a blanket waiver to the class of 22.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
There were going to be lawsuits. And here we are.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Well, that's what inactivity will get you. And this is
the point that we're at for sure. Hey, the actual
on field product. I mean, we're going to get to
see it for the first time tomorrow night. I mean,
I know that you're on the ground there. I'll be
there tomorrow afternoon and in the building tomorrow night. So
I'm excited to see what it looks like. But I mean,
is the hype real? Is this a team that can
really make some noise this year?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I mean, Dan, they spent $ 50 million on the roster.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
So it better be.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
That's my point. With investment comes expectation. That's true in
anything in life. They paid a lot of money to
fire Brian Kelly.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
They paid Lane Kiffin a lot of money. No one
has told him no. I mean, they have hired. I
have never seen this much support staff.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
I mean, if you look at the LSU, like the
coaching staff, support staff, just in the football building, it's
like one-to-one player to staff member. So nobody has told
Lane Kiffin no. They have given him every resource he
needs to win and win immediately. And for everyone who says, well,
you know, you need time to build it, it just
doesn't work like that in college football anymore because of
the portal and NIL system.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Kirk Cignetti is an example of that.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
I mean, took over the losingest program in the history
of college football. Year one wins 11 games. Year two
wins the national championship. So I don't think it's unrealistic
to have real expectations on his team this year.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
And is Boosie Badass going to lead the team out
of the tunnel tomorrow?
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I don't think that's going to happen tomorrow. I know
he wants to. That's the thing. And I'll tell you this.
when they had the wearing of the Green Parade, the St.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Paddy's Day Parade in Baton Rouge in the spring, Lane
was on stage with Boosie, and when they were backstage
in the trailer and whatever, Boosie made a note of
something he wants to do, and maybe there was a
soft verbal that something like that could happen. So I
don't necessarily think it will happen like with Boosie singing,
set it off in lieu of the tiger band. But
(08:41):
at some point I would be surprised if something like
that didn't happen.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I mean, I got to figure that probably the first
game you want the band to walk down the hill,
play the four little notes. And then of course, you know,
Colin Baton Rouge, all that stuff, bring them onto the field.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
I can get all of that.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
I would probably say scone Alabama would be when they
break that out. Like I feel like that would be
a good one to do, even though you've been very
much on record of saying that Bama is burning and
has been burning.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Of course, just a little old game, you know, another
four loss season. You pull it off for a four
loss team again.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Exactly.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
I mean, eight and four to eight and four to
bore for a reason.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
I guess we'll see if that is the case again
this year. He's Matt Moscona, ESPN 104.5 in Baton Rouge.
Like I said, LouisianaSports.net, LockedOnLSU, Morning Scone. I mean, my God, dude. Like,
do you just give people a notepad for a business card?
I mean, you're a roof guy, too, as well. I mean,
what don't you do?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I don't have hair.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
We all have our crosses, man. I mean, I, I used,
I used to be fat, you know, so, you know,
it was great.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
To see you in Tampa, man.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
You look awesome.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
No, I appreciate it, man.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
I appreciate it. Feelings mutual, man. It's always good to
see you. Will I see you around the stadium tomorrow,
or are you going to steer clear?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I will be there, man.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Definitely will. Definitely will. And I know our good buddies,
the Bocock brothers, are going to be out there, too,
and I'm supposed to stop by and see them. So
looking forward to it, man. Again, he's Matt Moscona, ESPN 104.5. Moscona,
you're the best, man. We'll catch up again soon.
Matt Moscona, ESPN 104.5 there in Baton Rouge. Also, LouisianaSports.net.
You can find him every single weekday afternoon on his
show after further review. Scone, I mean, yesterday, did it
kind of feel like it's a culmination of all of this,
or do you feel like this is now just the
beginning of this battle between LSU and the SEC?
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yeah, it's... Hey, Dan, it's... I.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Don't know that I would say it's a culmination, but
it was the next big step. Because I certainly don't
think The legal entanglement is over. I do anticipate that
the SEC, the NCAA will appeal, likely all the way
to the state Supreme Court. And then another component of
this as well, I'm.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Sure we'll talk about, but.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
If the players are not rostered, and I've been told this,
people intimately familiar with the case throughout, is that the
players would seek civil damages.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
They lost wages and things like that.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
If they are given a court order to play and
are not rostered or allowed to play, then you could
see a civil case against the NCAA, the SEC, and
possibly schools.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
So that happened actually this week at Missouri.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
A player there filed suit against Missouri after they made
the decision not to roster these players. So this is
a big legal step, but I think it's far from done.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
And then, I mean, where things stand with this right now?
I mean, where is the LSU fan base in terms
of handling all of this? Are they kind of looking
at Lane and being like, dude, this isn't worth it. Like,
what are you doing? Or do you feel like people
are saying, yeah, you know what? Screw the SEC. Screw
the NCAA. Just go ahead and play them and see
where this goes.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
I think you definitely have a portion of the fan
base that continues to ask the question, is the juice
worth the squeeze? I think And I understand that. I
think LSU leadership, however, has to ask a very different question. Primarily,
(02:06):
when you look at what happened yesterday, and Dan, this
is probably the biggest misconception people have with this entire situation.
LSU was not involved in the lawsuit. LSU did not
sue anybody. Nobody was suing LSU. What happened in Louisiana yesterday,
there were 42 college athletes, some who attended LSU, some
(02:26):
who attended other schools, some who play football, some who
play soccer.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Men's and women's basketball, lots of different sports.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
And those athletes sued the NCAA to regain their year of.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Eligibility they feel they're entitled to. So a court gave
them that injunction.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
And then what happened yesterday also is that Judge Jordan
in Baton Rouge said, and joined LSU into the lawsuit,
which effectively means if LSU does not roster those football players,
now LSU is in contempt of court. So the leadership
at LSU now has to say, well, do we really
want to run.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
Astray of a court order?
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Or do we want to contest the Southeastern Conference and
their rules? So they're stuck between a rock and a
hard place right now. And I think what's notable is precedent.
Over the last five years, with all of these court
cases for eligibility, there has never, not once, never been
a situation where a player was awarded a court order
(03:31):
and did not play. Even Charles Bediako played those five
games at Alabama last year when he received a temporary
restraining order. So while I understand there's some fan sentiment
that this is uncomfortable and they don't like it, LSU
leadership has to look through a different prism.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
Again, he is.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Matt Moscona, ESPN 104.5, joining us here on the Dan
Matthews Show, Sports Talk 790. And you can also find
Matt every single weekday afternoon on his show after further
review there in Baton Rouge and.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Throughout Southern Louisiana.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
Hey, Matt, I mean, we'll get to the actual on-field
stuff in a second because, I mean, it does seem
like LSU's got a lot to be excited about this season,
much like most seasons. But, I mean, to kind of
wrap up all of this with the off-field and legal
side of it, I mean, is there a part of
you that's like, okay, you guys are all making this
an LSU thing, but like, Are we really going to
(04:25):
gloss over the fact that Texas had a guy that
was in minicamp with the Cowboys and nobody said a
word about him or anybody else?
Speaker 4 (04:32):
It kind of seems like there's selective outrage here.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I think that certainly has been the case, and I understand.
LSU is a big brand. Lane Kiffin is a lightning rod.
I do understand why LSU is at the forefront. The
truth is, and I don't know if this is just
willful ignorance on the parts of many or just people
taking a surface-level view. But there are presently– and these
(05:01):
aren't my numbers. The NCAA released a memo last Friday.
There are 60 lawsuits around the country involving more than
300 athletes. And this has become hyper-focused on LSU because
of Lane Kiffin, and I understand that. But my point
has been the problem when you dabble in areas of
gray– is we start to have this conversation, Dan, like
(05:25):
you're just talking about Cole Hudson, the Texas offensive lineman.
He put on a Cleveland Browns uniform. He practiced with
the team. He put on a Dallas Cowboys uniform. He
practiced with the team. Somehow that's okay because he didn't
sign a contract, but Zavian Harris, who signed a contract
with the Saints and testified under oath yesterday. All he
(05:47):
received was $ 190 in gas money and never stepped on
the field because he was recovering from a foot injury.
I didn't take a single practice rep, but he's a,
he's a former NFL player. So that's the problem when
you deal in areas of gray, because then so much
subjectivity enters into these conversations. And the obvious question is, well,
(06:09):
how do you fix that? Well, it's what the NCAA
should have done from the beginning, which was award a
blanket waiver. This has to be binary. There's up, down,
there's left, right, there's good, bad, there's black, white. In
this instance, it's either they all play or none of
them play. Because when you introduce areas of gray, now
you have this conversation that it's almost impossible to differentiate.
And that's why this has been so messy. The NCAA
(06:32):
has been an awful organization that's lacked leadership throughout much
of its existence. And this is another illustration of a
situation where they were warned when they passed the new
five for five and the way they worded it, that
they didn't grant a blanket waiver to the class of 22.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
There were going to be lawsuits. And here we are.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
Well, that's what inactivity will get you. And this is
the point that we're at for sure. Hey, the actual
on field product. I mean, we're going to get to
see it for the first time tomorrow night. I mean,
I know that you're on the ground there. I'll be
there tomorrow afternoon and in the building tomorrow night. So
I'm excited to see what it looks like. But I mean,
is the hype real? Is this a team that can
really make some noise this year?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I mean, Dan, they spent $ 50 million on the roster.
Speaker 4 (07:14):
So it better be.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
That's my point. With investment comes expectation. That's true in
anything in life. They paid a lot of money to
fire Brian Kelly.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
They paid Lane Kiffin a lot of money. No one
has told him no. I mean, they have hired. I
have never seen this much support staff.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
I mean, if you look at the LSU, like the
coaching staff, support staff, just in the football building, it's
like one-to-one player to staff member. So nobody has told
Lane Kiffin no. They have given him every resource he
needs to win and win immediately. And for everyone who says, well,
you know, you need time to build it, it just
doesn't work like that in college football anymore because of
the portal and NIL system.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
Kirk Cignetti is an example of that.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
I mean, took over the losingest program in the history
of college football. Year one wins 11 games. Year two
wins the national championship. So I don't think it's unrealistic
to have real expectations on his team this year.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
And is Boosie Badass going to lead the team out
of the tunnel tomorrow?
Speaker 2 (08:13):
I don't think that's going to happen tomorrow. I know
he wants to. That's the thing. And I'll tell you this.
when they had the wearing of the Green Parade, the St.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
Paddy's Day Parade in Baton Rouge in the spring, Lane
was on stage with Boosie, and when they were backstage
in the trailer and whatever, Boosie made a note of
something he wants to do, and maybe there was a
soft verbal that something like that could happen. So I
don't necessarily think it will happen like with Boosie singing,
set it off in lieu of the tiger band. But
(08:41):
at some point I would be surprised if something like
that didn't happen.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
I mean, I got to figure that probably the first
game you want the band to walk down the hill,
play the four little notes. And then of course, you know,
Colin Baton Rouge, all that stuff, bring them onto the field.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
I can get all of that.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
I would probably say scone Alabama would be when they
break that out. Like I feel like that would be
a good one to do, even though you've been very
much on record of saying that Bama is burning and
has been burning.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Of course, just a little old game, you know, another
four loss season. You pull it off for a four
loss team again.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Exactly.
Speaker 4 (09:18):
I mean, eight and four to eight and four to
bore for a reason.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Right.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
I guess we'll see if that is the case again
this year. He's Matt Moscona, ESPN 104.5 in Baton Rouge.
Like I said, LouisianaSports.net, LockedOnLSU, Morning Scone. I mean, my God, dude. Like,
do you just give people a notepad for a business card?
I mean, you're a roof guy, too, as well. I mean,
what don't you do?
Speaker 2 (09:40):
I don't have hair.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
We all have our crosses, man. I mean, I, I used,
I used to be fat, you know, so, you know,
it was great.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
To see you in Tampa, man.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
You look awesome.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
No, I appreciate it, man.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
I appreciate it. Feelings mutual, man. It's always good to
see you. Will I see you around the stadium tomorrow,
or are you going to steer clear?
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I will be there, man.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Definitely will. Definitely will. And I know our good buddies,
the Bocock brothers, are going to be out there, too,
and I'm supposed to stop by and see them. So
looking forward to it, man. Again, he's Matt Moscona, ESPN 104.5. Moscona,
you're the best, man. We'll catch up again soon.
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