Big 12 Drops Sorsby Lawsuit Against Texas Tech
Jesse M. Cox Published 08/09/2026
The Big 12 dropped its lawsuit against Texas Tech. The suit related to efforts by Texas Tech to get senior quarterback and accused gambler Brendan Sorsby reinstated from NCAA suspension. Sorsby lost his NCAA eligibility after it was discovered that he'd made thousands of bets on sporting events, including on games in which he was involved as a player. Lawyers on behalf of Texas Tech won an injunction that would've permitted Sorsby to play this season.
That led to the Big 12 filing a federal lawsuit, seeking injunctive relief and a declaratory judgment allowing the conference to punish Sorsby and prevent him from playing.
Big 12 and Texas Tech battled over Sorsby
Shortly after the Big 12 filed its lawsuit, Texas Tech reversed course. The school relented, deciding not to make use of the injunction. Sorsby later announced that he wouldn't continue to seek to resume his NCAA career.
According to reporting by ESPN, all issues related to the suit have been handled internally, and the conference is moving forward.
After Sorsby dropped his lawsuit and his bid to regain his NCAA eligibility, he applied for the NFL Supplemental Draft. However, the NFL ruled that he had applied too late in the process and declined his petition. Sorsby is preparing for the 2027 NFL Draft. Before this gambling scandal emerged, Sorsby was viewed as the top draft-eligible QB entering the 2026 NCAA season.
Sorsby placed thousands of sports bets
In April, Sorsby announced he was entering a rehabilitation facility to get treatment for a gambling addiction. This decision came at the same time the NCAA was revealing the findings of its investigation into Sorsby's sports betting habit.
It was found that the QB made in excess of 9,000 bets covering some $90,000. The bets were placed on professional and college sports over four years. The bets ranged from NCAA football games to wagers on Romanian soccer.
Sorsby was even found to have bet on Indiana Hoosiers football games when he was a QB at Indiana.
Texas Tech lawyers sought to argue that Sorsby's gambling addiction was a sickness and that he should be reinstated once his treatment was completed. The school even drew support from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in their bid to get the QB back on the roster.
The NCAA didn't buy it, ruling Sorsby permanently ineligible.
Gambler discusses his addiction in a documentary
The Documentary The Program, airing on Paramount+, delves into Texas Tech football, including Sorsby's gambling addiction. He transferred to the school in the offseason after playing for Cincinnati last season.
Sorsby insists that his gambling obsession basically possessed him. He felt a compulsion to bet on games.
"I couldn't watch sporting activities without wanting to have something at stake, wanting to have some skin on the game," Sorsby says in the documentary. He discussed his gambling issues at both Indiana and Cincinnati, his two stops before transferring to Texas Tech. And when he got to campus in Lubbock, Texas, his betting addiction kept growing.
Reports were that Sorsby could've expected to earn millions in NIL money while playing his senior season for the Red Raiders. Yet he still felt compelled to gamble.
"Whenever I got to Tech, same deal," Sorsby said. "Making more money than I ever made in my life, no reason to gamble. And yet I still did it.
"Just chasing a dopamine hit, and that's where you lose yourself. … I'm walking around the facility, and nobody knows that I have a problem gambling. Once I got found out and got caught, I went to rehab to fix my problem. And here we are."
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