Athletic department leaders at Georgia and Nebraska instructed coaches and sport administrators not to schedule Texas Tech in any future athletic competition in the wake of Brendan Sorsby’s controversial eligibility ruling.
“We are not scheduling [Texas Tech] moving forward,” Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen told CBS Sports’ Richard Johnson.
On Monday, retired Lubbock judge Ken Curry granted Sorsby a temporary injunction against the NCAA, allowing him to play during the 2026 season. Sorsby will sit out Texas Tech’s first two games against Abilene Christian and Oregon State, but is eligible for the Big 12 opener against Houston on Sept. 18.
The court ruled that Sorsby would suffer “probable, imminent and irreparable injury” if he were not allowed to participate in college athletics this season while his gambling case proceeds through the legal system. Earlier this year, the NCAA ruled Sorsby permanently ineligible after he admitted to placing thousands of bets over four years, including multiple on his own team while redshirting at Indiana.
Georgia and Nebraska sent memos to staff urging a scheduling moratorium, including language offering direct instructions on how to proceed if current scheduling conversations were underway with the Red Raiders.
Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks condemned Texas Tech’s decision to play Sorsby after the ruling.
“True integrity means holding your program accountable when things go wrong, not buying custom legislation or running to a local courtroom to bypass the rules,” Brooks wrote Monday night.
The Big Ten is expected to discuss a league-wide mandate against scheduling the Red Raiders in the future, according to a report from ESPN.
ESPN also reports that the Big 12 is mulling its next move and “has defined a process to address” the Sorsby ruling, starting with a call on Tuesday involving the league’s athletic directors.
“The ramifications of today’s ruling are significant and could have broad impacts across college athletics, creating great concern amongst our membership,” Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark told ESPN. “I’ve been consulting with our key stakeholders and have scheduled meetings with our conference ADs and executive board this week. We are also in touch with [NCAA president] Charlie Baker and anticipate the NCAA to appeal the order in the next 24-48 hours. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation.”
TCU athletic director Mike Buddie and Kansas State AD Gene Taylor both told ESPN that multiple Big 12 schools are informally entertaining the idea of not playing Texas Tech in 2026.
“We anticipate having conversations surrounding it,” Buddie told ESPN. “We’re all anticipating it, but this has not been formally discussed.”
Coaches, ADs sound off on Sorsby injunction
Across college football, athletic directors, coaches and conference officials are wrestling with the implications of a decision that many believe could set a precedent for years to come. What began as an isolated case has quickly evolved into a national talking point, with administrators questioning whether the NCAA is equipped to handle the growing challenges tied to gambling, player conduct and institutional accountability — and bluntly, if the NCAA has any power as an enforcement arm at all.
Utah athletic director Mark Harlan called Sorsby’s actions “clear violations of NCAA policies and ethical guidelines,” and warned they may result in permanent damage.
“As someone who grew up reading about the ‘Black Sox Scandal,’ and seeing what happened to Pete Rose and just understanding how bright that line seemed to be in all of American sports, I’m stunned that there would be a question at the court level that this is acceptable,” Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin told ESPN. “That’s not a judgment on the young man. It’s just that was a pretty fundamental tenet of American sports, that if you’re going to participate, you can’t gamble, especially on your own team.”
