How a Texas Judge’s Ruling on Brendan Sorsby Could Be the Last Nail in the NCAA’s Coffin

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The NCAA is in big, big trouble.

On Monday morning, news broke that Texas Tech star quarterback Brendan Sorsby, who placed thousands of dollars in bets, including 40 bets on the Indiana Hoosiers when he was a member of the team back in 2022, has been granted a temporary injunction against the NCAA, which will allow him to play college football this season.

This is bad news for the NCAA. Brendan Sorsby was going to be an example. With players being paid thousands, and sometimes millions, of dollars, and sports betting growing more and more every year, the NCAA has been hard at work making sure this exact thing doesn’t happen.

You absolutely cannot have players betting on their own team. It opens the door for players to start throwing games to make extra money on the side, so under no circumstances is betting on your own team okay, even if you’re betting on them to win.

This felt like a slam dunk. Sorsby would be ruled ineligible for the 2027 season and would never play another college football game again. Instead, now he’ll only have to miss two games and will be able to lead Texas Tech, who many believe will be in the running for the National Championship this year, for 80 percent of the year.

And the worst part it, it’s not even the NCAA’s fault.

Brendan Sorsby’s Gambling Problem

Okay, I hinted at it a bit, but what actually happened with Brendan Sorsby?

Over the course of his four-year college career, Sorsby has placed well over 2,000 wagers, totaling over $90,000. The NCAA has a strict no gambling policy, which prohibits players and coaches from betting on any sport, not just their own.

The NCAA actually almost allowed college players and coaches to start betting on professional sports last year, but they rescinded the rule before it went into effect. I personally don’t care if college athletes are betting on pro sports, as long as they aren’t betting on college sports, but the NCAA has a rule in place where you can’t bet on any sport. So betting on not only your own sport, but your own team is a massive no-no.

One bet on your own team, you can get a slap in the wrist. 10 bets against your own team, you should be suspended for the season. But 40 (!) bets on your own team should cause you to never step foot on a college football field again. But I guess some random judge in Texas doesn’t agree with me.

You may be asking yourself why the NCAA doesn’t try to appeal this, and it’s because it would simply take too long. By the time the appeal process is over, Texas Tech’s season would likely be over. The court system moves far too slow for the NCAA to do anything about this. And that’s if they even won the appeal.

Why Did the Judge Rule Brendan Sorsby Eligible?

You may be asking yourself why in the world a judge would grant Sorsby an injunction after breaking one of the biggest rules the NCAA has set in place. Well, here’s a statement from the court on the decision.

“This court finds that applicant has demonstrated that he 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 team.”

Look, I’m a big advocate for mental health. I struggle with it, and so does pretty much everyone else, even if they don’t admit it. Would not playing football for Texas Tech this season be detrimental to Sorsby’s mental health? Probably. It would certainly hurt his chances of accomplishing his life-long dream and becoming an NFL quarterback one day. But you cannot use this as an excuse.

This is a very extreme example, but if you’re going to jail for murder, should you be able to argue that life in prison would cause irreparable harm to yourself and get out of it? No, so why should this be an excuse for Sorsby?

I’m not a lawyer, so that may have been a really dumb comparison, but I think you all get my point.

Plus, I think you could argue there’s a greater probably of him suffering an “irreparable injury” playing football than not playing football.

The NCAA’s Response

As you could probably have guessed, the NCAA is not too happy with the ruling. They almost immediately put out a statement, telling fans they strongly disagree with the court’s ruling, and believes it undermines the integrity of sports.

“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.”

Even the NCAA’s president, Charlie Baker, came out with his own statement, asking Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act, which would enable the NCAA to enforce gambling restrictions, among other things.

“There is no better example of why targeted intervention from Congress is necessary,” Baker said. “When you have schools and deep-pocketed supporters willing to look the other way on the glaring integrity threat of betting on your own team – and judges whose rulings effectively strip away our ability to stop them – only Congress can equip the NCAA to apply this common sense rule to everyone fairly and consistently. The Protect College Sports Act would empower the NCAA to enforce rules including the gambling restrictions – it’s needed now more than ever.”

I don’t typically agree with the NCAA, but they are essentially powerless when it comes to enforcing their own rules. Players searching for an extra year of eligibility or fighting to play despite betting on their own team can go to the courts and get an injunction to play.

Even the Texas Tech Boosters Aren’t Happy

The Texas Tech Red Raiders were knocking on the door of the National Championship last year. They earned the 4-seed in the College Football Playoff, earning a first round bye, but they were eliminated in the second round by the Oregon Ducks. Now, they’ve reloaded, adding the best quarterback in the transfer portal, and many expect them to be even bigger threat this year.

Despite all of that, at least some of the boosters still aren’t happy with the court’s decision to allow Sorsby to play this year. Cody Campbell, one of Tech’s biggest boosters, released this statement following the announcement this morning:

“This unfortunate situation is the outcome of a broken system,” Campbell said. “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.”

When someone who has a lot of money invested in this team’s future is publicly saying Sorsby shouldn’t be playing this year, that tells you a lot.

This Sets a Dangerous Precedent for the NCAA

This sets a horrible precedent for the NCAA. With this ruling, a precedent has been set that players can bet on their own team to win or lose games, and they’ll only get hit with a two-game suspension.

Do you know what this means? This completely opens the door for some big time gambler to offer a player, say, a million dollars to throw a game in order for their 10 million dollar bet to hit. For some of these guys who know they will never play in the NFL, that’s life-changing money, and they would gladly do it for a two-game suspension.

I’m still in shock. I simply cannot believe that a judge would see a player betting on his own team and say “yeah, he should play this year.”

Are we sure this judge isn’t a Texas Tech fan? I just simply cannot fathom anyone in their right mind making that ruling.

This is worst-case scenario for the NCAA. Sorsby was supposed to be an example for any player thinking about betting not just on sports, but on their own team. Now, everyone knows you can get away with a slap on the wrist.

This is a horrible day for college sports. This might be the final straw for the NCAA as an association. They are legitimately powerless. All a player has to do is take them to court and get an injunction, and because the system takes so long, there’s nothing they can do to stop it.

This might’ve been the last nail in the NCAA’s coffin.

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