It's time the NCAA hangs their cleats in the Trinidad Chambliss saga, instead of doing everything they can to force the Ole Miss QB to hang up his collegiate cleats.
After facing a humiliating defeat at the hands of Chambliss's legal team in the Mississippi State court and a show cause penalty on top of it, the NCAA decided to take their appeal to the Supreme Court with the same case they made, this time just extending it to 658 pages.
Trinidad Chambliss's team ready for courtroom action
Chambliss's legal team was quick on its feet to file a response to the Mississippi Supreme Court that opposes the NCAA's request for an interlocutory appeal in less than 15 days of the NCAA's filing.
NEWS: Trinidad Chambliss’ lawyers have filed a response to the NCAA’s appeal of Chambliss’s eligibility ruling in Mississippi State Supreme Court. It’s fairly straight-forward and argues the NCAA hasn’t met the standard for the appeal and an expedited review isn’t warranted. https://t.co/3Sf5ouMeW0
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) March 16, 2026
Essentially, Chambliss's side has a solid argument against the very basis of the NCAA's complaint, that State Court Judge Whitwell's discretionary ruling doesn't meet the threshold for review.
“Common sense suggests that 'acts of discretion,' such as the discretion afforded chancellors in granting preliminary injunctions, are the 'least eligible (matters) for interlocutory review," the filing said.
"Respectfully, it is not possible for this Court to determine whether the Chancellor erred without consideration of the lower court’s entire record, including all pleadings, motions, briefing, exhibits, and, most importantly, the transcript of the preliminary injunction hearing."
Chambliss's legal team also called out the NCAA for its awful timing since the QB had already missed the Combine, and the 2026 NFL Draft was also nearing. For the note, the NCAA took its sweet time of more than a month after the State Court's ruling to file its complaint to the Supreme Court, wasting the precious offseason time crunch.
"If the NCAA had not protracted its eligibility decision on Trinidad, such that Trinidad could have filed suit earlier, there might have been time for Trinidad to adequately prepare for the NFL draft, but that is no longer possible," the filing said.
The ball is firmly in Chambliss’s court, but nothing can be set in stone until the final gavel falls.