The Texas Tech Red Raiders have become public enemy No. 1 in college football.
On Monday, District Judge Ken Curry in Lubbock County, Texas, granted Red Raiders quarterback Brendan Sorsby a temporary injunction from the NCAA, restoring his eligibility after he was found gambling. He’ll remain suspended for the team’s first two games against the Abilene Christian Wildcats (Sept. 5) and Oregon State Beavers (Sept. 12).
Sorsby admitted to placing at least 40 bets on the Indiana Hoosiers while serving as a scout-team player and backup from 2022-23. He maintains he never wagered on games he played for the school.
The shocking decision has left college sports leaders stunned. Incensed, some are mulling a drastic move: boycotting games against Texas Tech.
ADs discuss the possibility of boycotting games against Texas Tech
Kansas State Wildcats athletic director Gene Taylor told Yahoo Sports’ Ross Dellenger Monday that Big 12 administrators recently discussed this before Monday’s ruling. Now that Curry has ruled in favor of Sorsby, Taylor believes they should seriously consider it.
“It’s f—— bulls—,” Taylor told Dellenger. “I know the kid has a problem. Well, get well and focus on your problem. It is absolutely devastating for him to be able to play when every other sport, no matter the level, deems an athlete ineligible or they are punished severely for betting on their team.”
Former Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban from the NBA in April 2024 for gambling violations. Commissioner Adam Silver noted that protecting the league’s integrity was the most important factor in making the decision.
Texas Tech seems to have forgotten its morals and is instead more focused on avoiding financial losses. Red Raiders booster Cody Campbell told USA Today he is obligated to pay Sorsby a $5M NIL (name, image, and likeness) deal if he’s eligible. That, however, doesn’t justify rule-breaking.
“I think there needs to be serious conversations about not playing Texas Tech in any sports,” Georgia Bulldogs athletic director Josh Brooks, a member of the NCAA Football Oversight Committee, told Dellenger. “This is not about Texas Tech. It’s about protecting our own locker room. We cannot, in good conscience, put our student athletes on a field where the competitive integrity of the contest is compromised and overridden by the courts. If a state court wants to dictate eligibility rules, they can play themselves.
“All FBS schools should only take the field against programs operating under a uniform, trustworthy standard of fairness. We’ve officially reached the point of no return.”
And if Sorsby plays this season, that would open the floodgates even more. Of course, that’s assuming that teams play against Texas Tech this season. In a college sports landscape only growing more absurd, don’t rule out that possibility, even though it remains slim.
