College Football is Finally United: We Hate the Brendan Sorsby Decision
- Sheehan Planas-Arteaga
- Jun 10
- 5 min read
The Brendan Sorsby decision is a low point for college football.
Talk about an unprecedented can of worms. The 2026 college football season hasn’t even started, and already we’ve had two instances of a local court granting an injunction to a college football player seeking to reverse a decision made by the NCAA. The first one involved Trinidad Chambliss, the Ole Miss QB who was seeking another year of eligibility. Chambliss sued the NCAA after his medical hardship waiver was denied, and a Lafayette County Court granted him an injunction in February. This allows him to play out his fifth year of eligibility, as the injunction will last longer than the season. The NCAA asked for an expedited appeal, but it was denied.
Now we have the Brendan Sorsby decision. The former Cincinnati and Indiana QB (now Texas Tech), was banned by the NCAA this past April for placing thousands of bets throughout his college football career, including 40 on his own team while he was playing in Indiana. He admitted to having a gambling addiction and went to rehab. Sorsby then sued the NCAA in May, and was granted a temporary injunction by a Texas judge this week, with a two-game suspension. The injunction opens the door for him to play for the Red Raiders in 2026, barring the NCAA securing a miracle expedited appeal. His bets amounted to roughly $90,000 across his four years of college.
I can confidently speak for all sane college football fans when I say the Brendan Sorsby decision, and this whole new injunction playbook for players to use, fucking sucks.
What Used to Matter
Gambling was the end of your career. Poof. Gone. You compromise the integrity of the game by placing wagers on the sport you’re playing, and you’re donezo. The Black Sox scandal of 1919, Pete Rose, Tim Donaghy, Jontay Porter, you know the scandals. All examples of people involved in a game, who bet on said game, and were found out. You do this and you’ll never participate in anything related to that league again.
Until the Brendan Sorsby decision.
Sorsby bet on the game of college football. A lot. Like, thousands of times. And not just games he didn’t have first-hand involvement in, we’re talking about Indiana games he wagered on while he was on the Hoosiers’ roster in 2022 and 2023. Other than the Black Sox scandal of 1919, in which eight members of the Chicago White Sox accepted bribes to throw the World Series, there has arguably never been a clearer infraction on the number-one rule: don’t bet on the game.
The Injunction Playbook
But see, now there are loopholes. Now there’s a playbook that college kids can use to get their playing time in, especially if it’s just one more season. All you have to do is find a judge, any judge, to grant you a preliminary injunction for whatever decision made by your sport’s governing body, which you are opposing. This is not a declaration of innocence, but rather, a way to stop harm from befalling the defendant while the case is ongoing or awaiting trial. In this situation, "harm" is not being able to play college football.
Once you’ve been granted your injunction, probably by a judge who lives in the area of your huge college football program, you’re golden. The case will certainly not conclude by the time the next season is over, at which point the parties will be arguing over nothing (if you’re a senior, like Brendan Sorsby and Trinidad Chambliss). The NCAA will ask for an expedited appeal, but apparently, those are almost never granted.
That’s the game. You’re good to play. The necessarily quick turnaround on these cases allows our legal system to effectively nullify the decisions of the NCAA, which appears to be the most toothless governing body in sports. Court cases are slow. Sports are fast. And since we’re innocent until proven guilty in this country, it follows that we shouldn’t be punished before our cases have been concluded, even though the punishment for the case is meant to take place at that specific time.
This right here? This is awful for sports.
The Brendan Sorsby Decision
Judge Ken Curry of Tarrant County, Texas ruled that Brendan Sorsby would suffer “a probable, imminent, and irreparable injury” if he did not issue a temporary injunction. This is because Sorsby would miss out on “elite coaching, camaraderie, training, resources, and a regimen that only being a member of a DI football team can provide.” He would also lose an opportunity to “build on the skills necessary to maximize his own success during the football season.” The Texas Tech QB is set to make about five million dollars in NIL money this season.
Josh Pate is among the best in the business when it comes to covering college football. He sums it up perfectly in the video below; missing out on coaching, training, camaraderie, etc. used to be called consequences. The guy bet on football games. You’re not allowed to do that and you get in trouble if you’re caught. Seems pretty cut and dry. Judge Ken Curry doesn’t want him to miss out? Oh, so like, the repercussions of doing something very illegal?
This decision was a joke. Are you ready for an even bigger one?
Brendan Sorsby's Day in Court
This case will be tried in the 99th District Court of Lubbock County, Texas. Lubbock is where the Texas Tech Red Raiders play. This court just set the date for Brendan Sorsby’s trial: February 8th of next year, a full two weeks after the season ends.
The NCAA has appealed Curry’s decision to the Court of Appeals for the Seventh District in Amarillo, Texas. Every one of the four judges in the Seventh District went to the same law school: Texas Tech. It is seen as a long shot that they win this appeal. I wonder why!
One thing the NCAA has going for it is massive public support. Multiple high-profile Athletic Directors and Coaches, especially in the Big 12, have made their disapproval very public, and have even suggested refusing to play Texas Tech while Sorsby is on the roster. What if the NCAA threatens sanctions for any team that plays against them? This will certainly give schools pause as they put their schedules together.
At least we won't have to see this guy play until the third week of the season to figure it out, since big, bad Judge Curry slapped a two-game suspension on a player with 3,000 illegal wagers under his belt. He’s gonna miss out on so much!
The Perfect Storm
A mixture of NIL, conference realignment, legalized sports betting, the expanded playoff, and now these subversive legal tactics have made college football the Wild West right now. These are unprecedented times for this sport so many people love, and the higher-ups in the NCAA seem to be figuring it out on the fly, but with limited influence compared to the U.S. legal system. It is not an enviable position to be in. Threats and massive penalties might work to a point, but that doesn’t seem like a sustainable way of doing business.
My money is on Brendan Sorsby, who threw for 27 touchdowns ran for nine more in 2025, playing next season and leading an excellent Texas Tech Red Raiders team back to the playoffs.
You can bet on it. Legally or illegally, doesn’t seem to matter much.
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