FORT WORTH, TX - NOVEMBER 29: Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Brendan Sorsby #2) throws a pass during the college football game between the TCU Horned Frogs and Cincinnati Bearcats on November 29, 2025 at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, TX. (Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Last week, Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby—who is accused of placing thousands of bets during his time in college—was granted an injunction against the NCAA by a Lubbock, Texas judge that stops the NCAA from punishing him for breaking its rules against sports gambling. That means that despite placing bets on a team that he was a member of, he is going to be allowed to suit up this fall.

Breaking: A judge in district court in Lubbock County, Texas, has granted the injunction requested by Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby. He’s set to be eligible for the 2026 season.

Sorsby cannot play in Texas Tech's first two games, which was the penalty his legal team suggested to… pic.twitter.com/TLNJgVCF0e
— ESPN (@espn) June 8, 2026

While I usually try to stay away from these stories that don’t directly affect the Deacs, this one feels like it is going to have massive implications to every college team and the NCAA has a whole. I feel the need to also point out that I have no dog in this fight. Wake doesn’t play Texas Tech this season (and hasn’t since 1941), so I am pretty indifferent on whether the Red Raiders win it all or lose every game this season. Here’s a quick timeline of the story if you haven’t been following it:

Timeline

January 4th: Sorsby transfer to Texas Tech
April 14th: The NCAA notifies Texas Tech of gambling allegations against Sorsby.
April 27th: Sorsby checks into rehab for gambling addiction
May 18th: The NCAA declares Sorsby is ineligible to play college football.
May 29th: Court documents show Sorsby placed thousands of bets, including 40+ bets on Indiana and his teammates while a member of the Hoosier football team in 2022
June 8th: Judge Ken Curry awarded Brendan Sorsby the injunction to retain his eligibility
June 15th: Big 12 files complaint seeking injunction to enforce its bylaws and sanction Texas Tech

To my knowledge, Sorsby is going to be the first player to ever to get caught betting on his own team/teammates and still be allowed to continue the playing the sport in question (Michael Jordan baseball conspiracies aside). It is important to note that while betting on his own team is the most problematic part of the story, Sorsby’s gambling didn’t stop there—during his time at Cincinnati, Sorsby “provided more than $60,000 to a friend to deposit into a FanDuel account registered to his brother-in-law that was shared by Sorsby and a friend.” He also sent at least $5,000 to people outside of the state of Texas to place bets for him since joining the Red Raiders, as online sports gambling in Texas is still illegal. In total, Sorsby is said to have placed thousands of bets totaling upwards of $90,000 on college football and other sports. So, not only did he bet on his own team, he committed several other crimes by: betting under the age of 21, using other people’s accounts to place bets, and sending money to people outside of the state to place bets for him. This would be grounds for an immediate ban in every other sports league on the planet. For college football, it means a 35-day stint in rehab is enough to get him back on the field.

Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby has made thousands of bets totaling at least $90,000 while in college, including at least 40 bets on Indiana football when he was a Hoosiers freshman in 2022, according to court filings. https://t.co/cLuje56y5M
— ABC News (@ABC) May 30, 2026

It’s hard to blame the NCAA for this disaster—they did exactly what they were supposed to do: banned Sorsby from playing. Unfortunately, college sports, the money involved, and the fandom have gotten so out of control, any team is going to be able to go shopping for a local judge who is a fan, graduate, or even booster of the school involved that will give them a favorable outcome. It is pretty telling that the trial between Sorsby and the NCAA has been scheduled by the district court in Lubbock for 2 weeks after the National Championship game, when the result will no longer affect Texas Tech. The NCAA is appealing the ruling, but they will have to do so in the Seventh Court of Appeals of Texas, where all 4 judges went to law school at Texas Tech.

All four justices on the Seventh Court of Appeals in Texas are Texas Tech graduates. pic.twitter.com/W6IrmKEhdO
— Brandon Marcello (@bmarcello) June 8, 2026

The reaction from the rest of the college sports world has been drastic. Nebraska’s and Georgia’s AD both announced decisions to stop scheduling Texas Tech in all sports, and the Big 10 has discussed a league wide ban on playing the Red Raiders. Big 12 schools were rumored to be considering boycotting or forfeiting their games with Texas Tech this season, while the Texas Attorney General is threatening to take the Big 12 to court if they take action against Texas Tech. On Monday, the Big 12 filed a legal complaint for an injunction to punish Texas Tech for trying to play Sorsby, with the Attorney Generals of Kansas, Oklahoma, and Utah all announcing their support and intent to assist the conference.

NEWS: The Big 12 has filed a legal complaint in federal court against Texas Tech & the Texas AG, seeking declaratory judgement and a preliminary injunction to enforce its bylaws and potentially sanction the school for its plans to play Brendan Sorsby.https://t.co/cjFs4SSoQn
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) June 15, 2026

The irony here, of course, is that if Sorsby was at Georgia, Nebraska or any of the other Big 12 schools instead of Texas Tech, that school would be completely behind the ruling and Texas Tech would be joining everyone else’s outrage. Every school in the nation wants the NCAA to enforce their rules, right up until it affects one of their team’s players—then they are in court suing the NCAA and threatening lawsuits for anyone who would try to stop them. College sports have become such a “win at any cost” business that nothing is too far out of bounds as long as the player in question is wearing the right team’s logo.

For the NCAA, this feels awfully close to the nail in the coffin. The most basic functions of the NCAA have always been organizing championships and setting the rules so every team is on a relatively even playing field. For its biggest and most lucrative sport—football—the NCAA now serves neither purpose. The CFP is not owned or operated by the NCAA, and they clearly can’t enforce any of their rules. If a player who gambled against their own team (unders) and continued to break the law to place bets for years can’t be stopped from playing, I have a hard time coming up with a scenario where a player might actually be deemed ineligible. If the individual conferences are going to be forced to go to court to sanction schools for breaking the NCAA’s rules, why do the conferences actually need the NCAA?

At this point, a breakup of the NCAA and the major conferences feels inevitable, and college sports will probably look completely different when that happens. The big question for us, is where that leaves our Deacs. Wake Forest likely doesn’t have the brand power to be included in some sort of super-league, and I’m not even sure the university would be interested in what would undoubtably be a...

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