College sports kicks off its season under the long shadow of court fights over eligibility

Imagine the Dallas Cowboys threatening to sue the NFC East, then teams in the division saying they won’t play them unless they remove a player from their roster. No well-run pro sports league would dream of it.College sports? Threats, lawsuits and instability are now as common as play-action passes and handoffs.The week leading to the start of the 2026 season featured LSU and the Southeastern Conference squaring off amid a destabilizing frenzy of lawsuits over eligibility and the mind-bending reality that players who signed on with a pro team, albeit briefly, might soon be suiting up in college again. Two months ago, it was the Big 12 going to court against one of its own teams, Texas Tech.In between: threats about leagues breaking away, talk of "conference-led governance" and a bill meand