The SEC sued LSU in U.S. District Court in Alabama on Thursday, alleging the university is violating the league's First Amendment right of expressive association by ignoring SEC rules that prohibit signing and playing former NFL players.

The lawsuit, which also names the LSU board of supervisors, LSU president Wade Rousse, athletics director Verge Ausberry, and football coach Lane Kiffin as defendants, was filed while SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and others testified during a separate injunction hearing in a state court in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

During Sankey's testimony in the state court hearing, one of the plaintiff's attorneys brought up the newly filed federal lawsuit.