Judge's ruling paves way for former NFL players to join LSU

Thanks to a judge's ruling in Louisiana on Thursday night, the path is now wide open for Dae'Quan Wright and Zxavian Harris to join the LSU football team despite having spent most of August on NFL rosters and practicing in NFL training camps. 

Judge William Jorden approved a preliminary injunction that will prevent the NCAA from punishing schools that puts the named athletes in the lawsuit on the field.

Several conferences, including the SEC, had threatened to punish schools that used players that had been in NFL camps or signed pro contracts. 

Path is open for former NFL players to join LSU

Wright and Harris were among a group of 40 athletes that petitioned the courts in Louisiana and Texas to retain their college eligibility despite having already signed pro contracts. 

The NCAA's eligibility rules were changed in June, going from allowing athletes to play in four years over a five-year period to allowing them to play all five years over that time period.

It created a bizarre window where several players who had already gone pro now had new found college eligibility. Several of them made an attempt to come back, sparking several lawsuits across the country.

It is a wildly unpopular path that pretty much everybody outside of a small handful of colleges and college coaches looking to capitalize on it vehemently oppose. LSU is led by first-year coach Lane Kiffin, who coached both Wright and Harris at Ole Miss.

The SEC filed a lawsuit against Kiffin and LSU on Thursday in an effort to prevent the players from playing, but the judge in that case has yet to offer a ruling

There are several players beyond Wright and Harris who are trying to get back into the NCAA, but they have yet to announce where they intend to play.

LSU has to submit its rosters for Saturday's season-opener against Clemson by Friday, and it seems likely now that both Wright and Harris will be on it. 

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has been one of the most vocal critics of the players returning to college, calling it "embarrassing," and pointing out that the NCAA seemingly now has no rules and no ability to govern itself.