The Texas Tech Red Raiders football team has been in the news a LOT lately, with the questions about Brendan Sorsby's eligibility at the forefront of the discussions. The NCAA ruled him ineligible, then Texas Tech appealed, and Sorsby's high powered legal team got the result they wanted, in a friendly court in Lubbock, home of the Red Raiders.
With this week's temporary injunction (and subsequent NCAA appeal that set a February 2027 court date), it looks more and more like Sorsby will get a Diego Pavia reprieve and be allowed to play in 2026.
The fallout from the injunction came fast and heavy from all angles. And the line of defense from Tech and others like Colin Cowherd jumped in just as quickly to justify Sorsby's actions and shield him from the fallout.
Even the State of Texas weighed in, via their attorney general Ken Paxton, who warned the Big 12 against sanctions or boycotting Texas Tech this fall, as doing so would bring additional penalties for violating the court order allowing Sorsby to play.
Brett Yormark, the Big 12 Commissioner, should call Tech's (and Paxton's) bluff here and bar Sorsby from playing under conference bylaws.
This battle is bigger than Sorsby, the Big 12, and the NCAA
Allowing a player who bet on their own team, in any sport, to continue competing would be unprecedented. The four major sports leagues in the United States - NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL - all have rules about gambling, as does the NCAA. Past cases of student-athletes gambling in College Football have resulted in permanent loss of eligibility.
Sorsby's dedication to getting well is commendable; however, he should not avoid significant consequences for his past misdeeds. He has placed in excess of 90,000 bets since 2022 - likely more than all other NCAA FBS players combined, and a significant number of them on his OWN TEAM.
This injunction, if it holds, opens the floodgates for any athlete, present or past, to claim that they were also addicted, and that it should be treated as a mental health issue for them, rather than a violation of the rules. Such a landmark lawsuit and subsequent settlement could wreck the NCAA.
For those reasons, the Big 12 should call this bluff for what it is - Texas Tech doesn't have a winning hand. The conference and the NCAA must take a stand and do everything to fight the injunction allowing Brendan Sorsby to play, as it isn't about one player, one team, or even one conference. It's about the NCAA's survival as a legitimate governing body that is allowed to enforce its own rules.
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