Boycotts discussed as Sorsby ruling incenses Big 12 and others

Most Big 12 fans already had reason to peg Texas Tech as Public Enemy No. 1. Now they have more ammunition.

The Red Raiders won the Big 12 in 2025, thanks largely to the reported $25 million it spent on its roster.

It looked like it might be difficult to defend that title come 2026, with transfer quarterback Brendan Sorsby seemingly ineligible after it was discovered he placed thousands of bets over the past four years, going so far as to use accounts from friends and family members to wager. That included betting on his own team as a player at Cincinnati, the school from which he transferred, and before that at Indiana.

The NCAA originally ruled him ineligible. But on June 8, a Lubbock County (Texas) Judge Ken Curry granted the quarterback a temporary injunction that will allow him to play the coming season, a move that has outraged all who follow college football.

The NCAA wasted no time in filing its appeal.

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark, never shy to offer a comment on any situation, issued a statement that read:

“The ramifications of today’s ruling are significant and could have broad impacts across college athletics, creating great concern amongst our membership. I’ve been consulting with our key stakeholders and have scheduled meetings with our conference ADs and executive board this week. We are also in touch with Charlie Baker and anticipate the NCAA to appeal the order in the next 24-48 hours. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation.”

Colorado's new director of athletics, Fernando Lovo, issued a statement with a similar tone: "The injunction issued today regarding Brendan Sorsby is troubling as his admitted actions are a clear violation of long-held standards of integrity in college athletics. Caring for student-athletes is important, but so is accountability, and this injunction is a clear affront to the competitive principles that have been the foundation of college sports for more than a century. We will continue to engage with the Big 12 Conference and our peers on this issue."

Colorado hosts Texas Tech on Saturday, Oct. 3.

According to Yahoo, there have been rumblings that schools in the Big 12 are considering boycotting scheduling Texas Tech. Others, including Georgia, are discouraging their programs from scheduling nonconference games with the school.

"We’ve had some serious conversations about it,” Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor told Yahoo Sports. “There is still a lot to be discussed. We aren’t scheduled to play them this year, but it’s something we have to look at from a college football perspective. This is greater than the Big 12.”

Arizona State is scheduled to play the Red Raiders in Lubbock on Oct. 17. Last season, ASU turned in one of college football's biggest upsets, beating Texas Tech 26-22 at Mountain America Stadium. ASU was the lone opponent to beat the Red Raiders in the regular season.

Sorsby entered a residential treatment program for gambling addiction.

The only penalty for Sorsby, one of the highest-paid transfer portal acquisitions in the offseason, is that he will have to sit out Texas Tech's nonconference games against Abilene Christian and Oregon State, who went a combined 11-15 in 2025.

Gambling is perhaps the biggest no-no in any sport. Rick Neuheisel was fired as head football coach at Washington for cause after admitting to NCAA investigators that he participated in high-stakes betting pools on the men's college basketball tournament, violating NCAA gambling rules. So it wasn't even in the sport in which he coached.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Sorsby ruling ignites heated debate from Big 12 opponents