The NCAA filed an appeal on Monday after a local judge granted Brendan Sorsby’s request for a temporary injunction that would make the Texas Tech quarterback eligible to play for the Red Raiders this season.
Sorsby was ruled ineligible by the NCAA after admitting to gambling on college football games, including betting on his own team while playing at Indiana.
In his decision Monday in Lubbock County, Texas, district judge Ken Curry restored Sorsby’s eligibility and said the NCAA cannot prevent him from “practicing, playing or otherwise participating on Texas Tech’s football team for the 2026 season.”
The ruling determined Sorsby “will suffer a probable, imminent, and irreparable injury if this Court does not issue this temporary injunction because he will be unable to participate as a member of Texas Tech University’s 2026 Football season.”
As suggested by his legal team, Sorsby will serve a two-game suspension as part of the injunction terms. That would cover Texas Tech’s games against visiting Abilene Christian on Sept. 5 and at Oregon State on Sept. 12.
The NCAA is seeking an “accelerated appeal” from the Court of Appeals for the Seventh District of Texas in Amarillo. The Athletic reported that the four justices who will hear the appeal all are Texas Tech law school graduates.
Per ESPN, the appeal might not be settled until after the upcoming football season, in which case even a verdict declaring Sorsby ineligible would be essentially meaningless in his case.
The NCAA wrote in a statement, “The NCAA strongly disagrees with the court’s ruling in this case and is deeply concerned about the damaging, far-reaching and broadly destabilizing ramifications of this outcome — which undermines and corrupts the integrity of sports. The NCAA is committed to supporting student-athlete mental health but must continue to aggressively defend against actions that defraud college athletics and threaten competitive integrity, such as betting on one’s own sport.”
The court’s Monday ruling drew immediate and negative reaction from across the college sports landscape. 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.
TCU football coach Sonny Dykes, a Texas Tech graduate, told ESPN it was “a bad day for college football.” He added, “How is anyone ever going to trust the outcome of a game again?”
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark acknowledged “great concern amongst our membership” over Sorsby being ruled eligible. He added that the conference’s ADs and executive board would soon meet to discuss the issue.
Sorsby was one of the most coveted quarterbacks in this year’s transfer portal class after he left Cincinnati. He entered a treatment program for a gambling addiction on April 27.
He admitted to placing bets on college football games, among other sports. NCAA policy prohibits college athletes from betting on sports it holds competitions for, professional and collegiate.
Sorsby’s attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, had requested a ruling by June 15. The quarterback has until June 22 to declare for the NFL’s supplemental draft should he be ruled ineligible at the collegiate level.
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.
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.
Texas Tech won its first-ever Big 12 championship last season and made the College Football Playoff as the No. 4 seed, dropping its quarterfinal matchup vs. No. 5 Oregon 23-0.
–Field Level Media
