The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Big 12 conference have each issued separate court filings in an attempt to block Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s eligibility for the upcoming 2026-2027 college football season.
Within a Texas appeals court, the NCAA asked to stay a temporary injunction granted by Judge Ken Curry on June 8, which ruled the organization cannot prohibit Sorsby from "practicing, playing or otherwise participating on Texas Tech's football team for the 2026 season."
The NCAA also requested a resolution for the case be provided by no later than August 28, as that would “spare the potential disruption” of a ruling following Texas Tech’s opening game on September 5.
“The trial court’s temporary injunction sweeps beyond anything Texas law permits,” NCAA attorneys said.
“It undermines the integrity of college sports, rewrites member-adopted rules of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, immunizes Brendan Sorsby from discipline for admitted and serial violations of NCAA anti-gambling rules, incentivizes a run on courthouses across the country to challenge even the most obvious and straightforward student-athlete eligibility decisions and demolishes the status quo.”
Sorsby had admitted to placing over 9,000 wagers during his time at Indiana University and Cincinnati, totaling at least $90,000 in bets and including wagers placed on Indiana while he redshirted for the school.
The Big 12’s filing seeks a court order supporting the conference’s ability to use bylaws for enforcing its own punishment against Sorsby. The conference also accused Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Tech leadership of trying to prevent the Big 12 from exercising its own rules.
Attorneys for the conference issued their own remarks on June 15: “An athlete with an extensive, documented history of wagering on intercollegiate athletic contests — especially his own team’s games — presents a reputational and integrity risk to the conference and its championship competition that the conference has both the right and the responsibility to address.
"The Conference is not required to accept that risk on behalf of its fifteen other member Institutions, their student-athletes, their fans and its commercial partners. And no government official has the power to compel it to do so.”
While the Big 12 Board of Directors was expected to meet on June 15, an official decision on Sorsby’s eligibility has not yet been provided by the conference.
The NCAA began utilizing the ProhiBet solution designed by Integrity Compliance 360 to monitor officials who called championship games across multiple Division I sports during March 2026
