Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby can return to college football in 2026, but not right away. A Texas judge blocked the NCAA ineligibility ruling, while also approving a two game suspension for the transfer quarterback.
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Judge Ken Curry gave Sorsby the legal relief that the NCAA refused to grant. The order stops the NCAA from banning him from “practicing, playing, or otherwise participating on Texas Tech’s football team for the 2026 season.”
Still, the ruling did not clear him without penalty. Texas Tech asked for a two game ban, and Curry agreed. Sorsby will miss the first two games before he can return.
For the sports betting industry, the case lands in a sensitive place. College athlete betting rules remain one of the biggest integrity topics in US gambling, especially with legal sportsbooks, DFS operators, and prediction style products all competing for younger users.
The NCAA had ruled Sorsby ineligible after he admitted he bet on college sports, including Indiana games while he was a freshman backup. He never bet on games he played in, according to the case details, but NCAA rules usually make athletes ineligible if they bet on their own team.
The NCAA said it would keep fighting.
“The NCAA strongly disagrees with the court’s ruling in Sorsby’s case and is deeply concerned about the damaging, far-reaching, and broadly destabilizing ramifications of this outcome – which undermines and corrupts the integrity of the sport,” the NCAA said.
Sorsby filed the lawsuit in May after the NCAA decision. Texas Tech also asked the NCAA to restore his eligibility, but the governing body denied that request on Friday, just days before the court order.
Curry said Sorsby faced “improbable, imminent, and irreparable injury” without court relief. He also wrote that losing access to Division I football would take away “elite coaching, training resources, camaraderie, and regimen that only being a member of a Division I football team can provide.”
NFL timing also played into the case. Without a college path, Sorsby had until June 22 to decide on the NFL Supplemental Draft.
The court placed several recovery and reporting rules on him. Sorsby must keep seeing a credentialed gambling disorder counselor, attend Gamblers Anonymous, continue anxiety disorder treatment, join athletic recovery resources and mentorship, and send compliance reports to the NCAA through his legal team.
Court filings described a wide betting pattern. Sorsby placed around $90,000 in wagers and transferred at least $60,000 to two friends who helped him bet through FanDuel, Hard Rock Bet, Underdog, and PrizePicks. The bets covered college football, college basketball, NBA, MLB, PGA Tour, tennis, Turkish basketball, Romanian soccer, and Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.
He also said he bet $850 on Indiana to feel closer to games when he was not playing.
“It became a habit for me to bet,” Sorsby said in a written statement to the NCAA. “My betting became a compulsion, which made it virtually impossible to resist the constant notifications I received from betting apps. I lost complete control of my addiction. I now realize the apps controlled me and I did not control them.”
Sorsby transferred from Cincinnati to Texas Tech during the offseason. In April, he left the team to enter rehab for gambling addiction. Now the legal case will continue while he returns under court ordered treatment rules and a shortened team suspension.