Texas Tech’s Brendan Sorsby, a premier college football quarterback ineligible for the upcoming season because he bet on sports, is asking a Texas judge to force the NCAA to let him play.
Sorsby is seeking an injunction that would prohibit the governing body from interfering with his ability to practice or play in what would be his final season in college, according to a lawsuit he filed Monday in Lubbock County, Texas.
The suit blasts the NCAA as hypocritical for profiting monetarily from gambling while imposing harsh restrictions on student athletes who violate its ban against betting on sports. The NCAA, the suit says, showed little compassion for Sorsby by requiring him to turn over voluminous bank records as part of his reinstatement request after he admitted to an addiction and sought treatment.
“The NCAA has weaponized his condition to shore up a facade of competitive integrity, while simultaneously profiting from the very gambling ecosystem it polices,” the lawsuit said.
Sorsby was declared ineligible by Texas Tech upon the initiation of an investigation from the NCAA last month, with the university now pushing for his reinstatement. The NCAA, which itself hasn’t found him ineligible, “has yet to state that it will process Texas Tech’s reinstatement request,” the suit said.
If Sorsby isn’t granted eligibility, he’s expected to leave to the NFL through a supplemental draft for which he must declare his intent by June 22, the petition said.
Sorsby, who played previously at Cincinnati, is considered among the best quarterbacks returning to college football next season. His arrival to Texas Tech is thought to be the missing link on a Red Raiders team that qualified for the College Football Playoff last season but sputtered on offense in a 23-0 quarterfinal loss to Oregon.
The lawsuit was assigned to Judge Phillip Hays, who holds two degrees from Texas Tech.
Sorsby is represented by Dustin Burrows, of Liggett Law Group PC, who is the Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives and represents an area that includes Texas Tech. Burrows is joined as counsel by Jeffrey Kessler of Winston & Strawn LLP.
The case is Sorsby v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, Tex. Dist. Ct., No. DC-2026-CV-0791, 5/18/26.
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