4kclips / Shutterstock.com
Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby is heading back to the field. A Lubbock judge granted him a temporary injunction against the NCAA on Monday morning, clearing him to play during the 2026 season while his legal challenge against the organization works its way through the courts.
He won’t be available right away. Sorsby will sit out the first two games against Abilene Christian and Oregon State before returning for the Big 12 opener on Sept. 18 against Houston.
Judge Ken Curry ruled that Sorsby would suffer “probable, imminent and irreparable injury” if kept out of college athletics during the proceedings. More specifically, the court found that keeping him sidelined would cut off his access to high-level training and hurt his chances of entering the June 22 NFL Supplemental Draft.
The Allegations
The NCAA had ruled Sorsby permanently ineligible after he admitted to placing thousands of bets over four years as an active college athlete. That included bets on Indiana football while he was a member of the program and still redshirting. According to court filings, he used family members and friends to place bets on his behalf, with at least 40 wagers tied to Indiana football. Some of that activity continued after he arrived at Texas Tech.
NCAA rules are unambiguous here: any player who bets on their own team, or any team in their athletic department, is done.
Following the allegations going public, Sorsby checked into a gambling rehab facility for several weeks. His legal team, which includes Jeffrey Kessler (the attorney behind the landmark House v. NCAA lawsuit) and Texas Speaker of the House Dustin Burrows, argued the NCAA failed to account for Sorsby’s gambling addiction and anxiety disorder. They also pointed to the NCAA’s own financial relationships with gambling companies as relevant context.
“The NCAA has weaponized his condition to shore up a facade of competitive integrity, while simultaneously profiting from the very gambling ecosystem it polices.”
The NCAA pushed back hard, arguing that no athlete who bet on their own games had ever been reinstated and that allowing Sorsby back would cause irreparable harm to the organization. Curry sided with Sorsby anyway.
The NCAA didn’t hold back in its response Monday.
“The NCAA strongly disagrees with the court’s ruling in Sorsby’s 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.”
Sorsby, for his part, kept his statement measured.
“I’m very grateful for the endless support I have received throughout this entire process. I am also grateful for the chance to rejoin my teammates. This opportunity comes with the responsibility to remain focused on my personal growth, the ability to learn from this experience, and to be able to use my situation to help others going forward.”
Impact on Texas Tech
Texas Tech went all-in on Sorsby this offseason. The Red Raiders reportedly signed him for more than $5 million, making him one of the most expensive transfer acquisitions in recent memory. That kind of investment makes more sense when you look at what he brings: a five-star transfer rating, an All-Big 12 résumé from his time at Cincinnati, and the No. 2 ranking in the transfer portal.
The Red Raiders won their first ever Big 12 title last season and led the conference in both total offense and defense. But the College Football Playoff exposed something. Texas Tech got shut out 23-0 by Oregon, with the offense completely stalling out when it mattered most. Sorsby was the offseason answer to that problem.
Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt made clear the program is supporting Sorsby’s return, but with structure in place.
“As we have said before, we do not believe that the circumstances of Brendan’s case warranted permanent ineligibility. As he returns to our football program, we remain committed to supporting Brendan’s recovery and ensuring his compliance with the court’s order. A comprehensive support structure, including clinical care, monitoring, and compliance checks, will remain fully in place for the duration of Brendan’s time as a student at Texas Tech.”
Texas Tech booster and board chair Cody Campbell also weighed in, framing it as a broader systemic issue.
“This unfortunate situation is the outcome of a broken system. I’m doing everything I can to fix it, but until there is a permanent solution, Texas Tech and its student-athletes have to do the best they can to navigate and compete amid the chaos that exists in the reality of the world we live in.”
What’s Next
This is a real blow to the NCAA. The organization has been losing local court cases on eligibility issues for years now, but this one hits differently. Gambling on your own games has always been considered the clearest possible line in sports, at any level. If the NCAA can’t enforce that rule, it’s fair to ask what it can enforce.
The NCAA is expected to appeal. But the timeline is tricky; the June 22 NFL Supplemental Draft deadline creates a legal wrinkle that could complicate any attempt to keep Sorsby off the field before the season starts. The case will eventually go to full trial, though that likely won’t happen until after the 2026 season wraps up. It’s a similar situation to what Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia navigated last year.
Judge Curry outlined seven conditions Sorsby must follow under the injunction. He’s required to attend both individual and group treatment sessions for his addiction and anxiety disorder; he also must submit a monthly compliance report to the NCAA.
The injunction is temporary. The legal fight is far from over.
