The NCAA has lost the first round of its attempt to ban Brendan Sorsby for gambling on football, including games for the Indiana when he was on the Indiana roster, as a judge in Texas has granted an injunction allowing Sorsby to practice and play for Texas Tech in 2026, though he will be suspended for the first two game.
The NCAA is expected to appeal.
I certainly agree with Dan’s assessment. This decision by the judge is moronic.
Hopefully we can actually read the reasoning.
Expecting a judge in Texas to rule against football is unrealistic, he’d never get elected again.
The choice of venue was hardly coincidental.
This gives a new meaning to raider rash.
The original judge recused himself because he was a TT alum. My guess is they had to file in a Texas court, the only other option would probably be Indiana, I don’t know if they could get a hearing in federal court (or would want one.)
As the ESPN article noted, the lawsuit is likely to not be resolved until after the season ends, at which point it is moot. I suppose the NCAA could try an emergency appeal to the Texas Supreme Court, given the June 22nd deadline for the NFL supplemental draft, but I’m not sure they’d get a better ruling there, and it seems unlikely that they could get it into a federal court without exhausting the state court options first.
I would hope the NCAA presses for a ruling anyway, because they really don’t want this injunction on the books as a precedent.
The NCAA is absolutely toothless at this point. I’m not even sure why we pretend that they still have power.
College Football as we knew it died a long time ago and it ain’t ever coming back.
Nebraska AD Troy Dannen, along with Georgia’s AD, have instructed their coaches and staffs not to schedule any competitions with Texas Tech going forward. Existing games/matches on the books might also be canceled.
The NCAA really screwed up with the fight over NIL. Once they lost that, their authority was significantly diminished. They had the opportunity to settle at a much better outcome but dig their heels in and got crushed.
The Big Ten is considering making this a conference-wide rule.
Amie Just wrote a rather scathing column for the Lincoln Journal-Star on Texas Tech and the Sorsby mess, saying that if the NCAA loses this fight, it will not recover as an institution. I tend to agree.
Georgia has also said it will not schedule Texas Tech. I would be surprised, though, if the entire SEC follows suit.
The other big 12 institutions need to collectively refuse to play Texas Tech, consequences be damned. Take the forfeit and lost revenue for now, or drag it out in court for years to come. If TT can break the rules, then other teams should be able to breech contracts.
This has got to be the line in the sand moment for college sports. I am hopeful that enough pressure is put on TT, and they eventually realize that Sorsby isn’t worth it. And then….maybe somebody finally fixes this mess.
The Big Twelve ADs held a phone call where the other ADs vented over the Texas Tech situation, but it isn’t clear this will lead to any action against TT or Sorsby, and any such action would certainly be accompanied by another lawsuit.
I have to wonder why the Justice Department isn’t taking action, wouldn’t using surrogates for online betting have been a form of wire fraud? And isn’t the IRS interested in this?
As a sign of the times, the WSJ had an article recently about HS seniors with NIL contracts in hand spending $80K on their senior prom.
The Athletic on this.
Jim Dean
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Brendan Sorsby’s injunction raises the question: Can the NCAA enforce anything anymore? (Gift Article) |
The Big Twelve has filed suit in federal court (Northern District of Texas) over the Sorsby matter, Several Texas Tech officials and the Texas Attorney General are all named in the suit.
Reports are out that Sorsby and TT are parting ways.
They didn’t need/want this headache.
This thing is not going away
IMHO, TT officials and Sorsby should be summoned to testify before Congress. When did TT know about the gambling and when did they offer him a NIL deal?
Sorsby is gone from the program, but I really doubt this is over. The fact that TT every thought that taking the position they did for even a moment was okay should never be forgotten nor forgiven. The B12 isn’t going to do anything at this point, but other schools can follow NU’s and UGA’s lead and simply forget that they exist.
