BATON ROUGE — The SEC responded to LSU's motion to dismiss the conference's lawsuit against the school, calling expulsion a "very real threat" for LSU after the men's basketball roster signed several fifth-year players.

Despite LSU not including two fifth-year players on their football roster, the SEC argued that LSU’s "eleventh-hour decision not to include two former professional athletes" does not "moot" the SEC’s claims, as Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill argued.

The conference specifically says LSU's "last-minute decision" not to include those players confirms lack of institutional control.

"Defendants’ argument that they mooted this case by deciding, at last, not to roster the players is like saying that someone caught with his hand in the cookie jar has cured the problem by pulling it out. What’s more, Defendants still have their hands in the jar."

The conference cited LSU's recruitment of RJ Luis as the school flouting the conference's professionalism rules. By recruiting Luis and other international players, the SEC argues that LSU is interfering with the conference exercising its First Amendment right of "expressive association, including its right to disassociate with LSU."

"LSU has openly recruited former NBA player RJ Luis Jr., has allowed him to practice with LSU’s men’s basketball team, and has refused to publicly and definitively state that he will not be included on LSU’s basketball roster, which is not due for several more weeks," the SEC argued.

The SEC also used a quote from Will Wade saying that LSU was going to be "unapologetic" about recruiting "international professional basketball players whose eligibility remains in question."

On Tuesday, the same day that the SEC filed their argument against LSU's motion to dismiss, Wade said Luis was not a member of the LSU men's basketball roster due to concerns regarding "SEC protocols."

The conference also said that LSU's arguments for dismissing the lawsuit do not reflect "the language of an institution prepared to accept the consequences of its stubborn refusal to follow rules fundamental to the Conference’s purpose and mission."

"It is the statement of an institution preserving its ability to obstruct any effort by the SEC to disassociate—the very obstruction that this lawsuit seeks to prevent," the SEC said.

The SEC's full filing is available below.