The college football world was stunned on Monday as quarterback Brendan Sorsby was ruled eligible to play for Texas Tech this fall.
Sorsby was facing permanent ineligibility after admitting to betting on Indiana games while a member of the Hoosiers. After he received treatment for gambling addiction at a rehabilitation facility, he was denied an eligibility appeal from the NCAA.
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However, Judge Ken Curry in Lubbock County court on Monday granted Sorsby an injunction allowing him to play in 2026. Curry determined that Sorsby would suffer a “probable, imminent and irreparable injury” if he were not allowed to play for the Red Raiders this season.
As part of the ruling, Sorsby will be suspended for Texas Tech’s first two games of the season against Abilene Christian and Oregon State. He will also be required to continue undergoing counseling for gambling addiction.
The NCAA is expected to appeal Curry’s ruling. In a statement, it voiced its strong opposition to the ruling.
“The NCAA strongly disagrees with the court’s ruling in Sorsby’s case and is deeply concerned about the damaging, far-reaching and broadly destabilizing ramifications of this outcome — which undermines and corrupts the integrity of sports,” the NCAA said, per ESPN’s Max Olson. “The NCAA is committed to supporting student-athlete mental health but must continue to aggressively defend against actions that defraud college athletics and threaten competitive integrity, such as betting on one’s own sport.”
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NCAA president Charlie Baker also responded negatively to the ruling, arguing in a social media post that the ruling highlights the need for congressional intervention via the Protect College Sports Act, which was recently proposed by the U.S. Senate.
“There is no better example of why targeted intervention from Congress is necessary,” Baker wrote. “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.”
It’s a potentially massive decision with possible wide-reaching implications about the NCAA’s ability to enforce its own rules. However, barring an appeal — which could potentially be resolved after the season, anyway — it seems Sorsby will be starting for the Red Raiders this fall, after all.
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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Texas Tech Football: Brendan Sorsby granted eligibility in 2026
