According to a judge in district court in Lubbock County, the penalty for breaking NCAA rules and not just participating in sports gambling, but betting on your own games, should be a two-game suspension against Abilene Christian and Oregon State.
ESPN reported on Monday that Texas Tech football starting quarterback Brendan Sorsby has been granted his request for an injunction, which will allow him to play in the upcoming 2026 season. He’s just suspended for the first two games of the season, both of which the Red Raiders are significant favorites in.
This comes after the NCAA deemed Sorbsy ineligible to play earlier this year. This is due to reportedly wagering about $90,000 on professional and college sports over the past four years. This included 40 bets on Indiana football while he was a backup quarterback on the roster.
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Despite the clear breaking of NCAA rules, Judge Ken Curry ruled that Sorby’s legal team demonstrated that he will suffer “probable, imminent and irreparable injury” if unable to play this upcoming season. With the injunction, the NCAA is unable to prevent him from participating despite the violation of rules.
“There is no better example of why targeted intervention from Congress is necessary,” NCAA President Charlie Baker wrote in a statement on X. “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.”
Sorsby is far from the first to take legal action to ensure his eligibility and circumvent NCAA rules. Perhaps most notably, that’s how Diego Pavia initially received eligibility for last year, as he protested junior college seasons counting toward eligibility. In response, the NCAA created a one-year blanket waiver for players in the same situation as him.
Tennessee has also had a player look to take advantage of the courts. Using the same argument as Pavia, Vols quarterback Joey Aguilar fought for another year of eligibility in court this offseason, but was denied his injunction and now is playing for a roster spot with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars.
