The situation involving Brendan Sorsby, Texas Tech and the Big 12 is getting ugly.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton emailed Brett Yormark and Douglas Girod, Chair of the Big 12’s Board of Directors, and the Chancellor at the University of Kansas, a formal letter threatening legal action should the league penalize or sanction Texas Tech for its stance maintaining Sorsby’s eligibility for the 2026 football season.
The letter comes on the same day Big 12 athletic directors are scheduled to discuss “potential options” regarding the injunction by a Texas district judge, negating Sorsby’s suspension by the NCAA for wagering on football games during his playing time at Indiana and, most recently, Cincinnati. Sorsby transferred to Texas Tech this offseason as the top quarterback in the portal.
In the letter, the attorney general states the following regarding any potential penalties to be levied against Texas Tech:
“Any sanction against Texas Tech for acting consistent with the (injunction) would be a per se violation of federal and state antitrust laws – a naked horizontal agreement among competitors to disadvantage Texas Tech.”
Additionally, the letter threatens the Big 12 with legal action over “breach of contract and tortious interference” with the Red Raiders regarding potential forfeited contests or changes to their upcoming football schedule. This portion references the recent uproar by Big 12 athletic directors, as well as several Power Four athletic departments, over the injunction letting Sorsby play.
It’s been the toast of the college football world for days now, and this latest piece of drama puts the league in a tricky position with a football season to be played in just a few months. Texas Tech is undoubtedly the league’s largest asset when it comes to competing for the College Football Playoff, and its relationship with the league is officially on the rocks with this development.
Texas Tech football coach Joey McGuire recently doubled down on his school’s defense of Sorsby, and said providing their quarterback an avenue to finish his career lines up with other mistakes student-athletes have made without losing out on the entirety of their eligibility. A legit point, but one that doesn’t exactly account for those players that’ve already been penalized under the current NCAA rule, which denies eligibility to any player wagering on their own games.
It’s that Texas Tech is ready to fight in court to ensure Sorsby sees the field, and the Big 12 now finds itself in a position where if it stands down, it sends a troubling message about the future of college sports and whether it can be preserved anymore.
