The Big 12’s athletic directors held a call with conference commissioner Brett Yormark Tuesday to express their frustration about the temporary injunction that made Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby eligible for the 2026 season.
Sorsby was ruled ineligible by the NCAA after admitting to gambling on college football. District judge Ken Curry granted Sorsby the injunction on Monday, overruling the NCAA and prohibiting the association from suspending Sorsby from “practicing, playing or otherwise participating,” pending a change of heart.
With a trial date set for Feb. 8, 2027, that doesn’t seem likely.
Because of his historic ruling for a team which won its first Big 12 title in program history last season and made its first College Football Playoff, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that this decision has been met with frustration from the rest of college football.
ESPN reported that TCU athletic director Mike Buddie and Kansas State AD Gene Taylor presented the possibility that the rest of the Big 12 could elect not to play Texas Tech this upcoming season due to their outrage.
“We had a thoughtful and productive conversation with our athletic directors today as we continue to work through the broader implications of this situation,” Yormark said in a statement shared by the Big 12 after the call. “Many of our athletics directors voiced their opinions. We will continue to have open and honest dialogue amongst the group and until there is something to report, these conversations will remain within the conference.”
According to ESPN, Georgia and Nebraska will no longer allow their teams to play against Texas Tech in any sport, and the Big Ten as a whole will weigh a similar mandate.
NCAA president Charlie Baker also spoke out against the injunction while talking at the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics conference on Tuesday, saying the appeal process is already underway.
“I spent eight years as governor of Massachusetts and three years and change in this job. This was pretty much a new low, and I’ll leave it at that,” Baker said, per Sports Business Journal.
“We’ll pursue every legal avenue that’s available to us. This is a pretty fundamental issue and the facts kind of speak for themselves.
“The rules on this one are pretty clear and they apply to everybody who plays sports at the amateur and professional level everywhere. But if you think about it, three or four of the most challenging issues that Division I faces are all the result of a court case. And in most cases it is one student-athlete. The judge looks up, sees that one student-athlete and makes a decision based on that, but the consequences ripple all over the place.”
Court documents filed by Sorsby’s legal team showed he placed at least 40 bets on the Indiana football team while a member of the program in 2022 and 2023. In all, he wagered about $90,000 through a variety of sportsbook accounts registered to friends and a family member over a four-year period before entering an addiction treatment program on April 27.
Sorsby threw for 5,613 yards, 45 touchdowns and 12 interceptions over the past two seasons at Cincinnati. He also ran for 1,027 yards and 18 touchdowns in 24 games.
–Field Level Media
