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Brendan Sorsby’s attorney argued last Monday that the NCAA should have reinstated the Texas Tech quarterback to play this upcoming season because of his rampant gambling, which is tied to a mental disorder.
The feud between the two sides had been ongoing since the NCAA was alerted that Sorsby had placed numerous bets on his own football team while enrolled at Indiana, starting with the 2022 season, along with thousands of other bets on various sports.
On Monday, Judge Ken Curry ruled that the case presented by attorney Jeffrey Kessler was enough for Sorsby to get a temporary restraining order from the court.
“The court finds that the applicant has demonstrated that he will suffer probable, imminent and irreparable harm if this court does not issue the temporary injunction because he will be unable to participate as a member of the Texas Tech University football team in 2026, including Texas Tech’s 2026 football season,” Judge Curry wrote.
BRENDAN SORSBY BREAKED NCAA GAMBLING RULES. NOW HIS TEXAS TECH FATE IS IN THE HANDS OF A LUBBOCK JUDGE
From the start, this felt like an open-and-shut case, based on an incident during his redshirt year at Indiana. But the court had other opinions.
In the court order, the NCAA is ordered not to: Ban Sorsby from practicing, playing or otherwise participating on Texas Tech’s football team for the 2026 football season.
But Brendan will be suspended for the opening two games of the 2026 season, according to the court, which is based on the proposed punishment from Sorsby’s camp to the NCAA in negotiations.
HAIL MARY IN LUBBOCK: BRENDAN SORSBY’S LAST SHOT TO BEAT NCAA GAMBLING ALLEGATION
Brendan Sorsby played on his own team, but the NCAA is somehow the bad guy in this case
Brendan Sorsby broke the one rule in college athletics that you just don’t break: he bet on his own team.
It was also the large amounts of bets placed during his time in college that were an overwhelming product of the NCAA’s decision to rule out Brendan Sorsby.
TEXAS TECH QB BRENDAN SORSBY UNDERGOING TREATMENT FOR OLDER DISABILITY AMID NCAA INVESTIGATION
Brendan Sorsby of the Cincinnati Bearcats walks off the field after the team defeated the Baylor Bears 41-20 at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio on Oct. 25, 2025. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
Brendan Sorsby admitted to playing Indiana and Cincinnati basketball while enrolled at the two schools. The quarterback admitted through an affidavit filing place at least 2,900 bets for more than $30,000 during his time in Bloomington. Of those, 40 were in Indiana football while on the scout team and before he stepped onto the field in the 2022 season against Penn State in his only appearance.
Sorsby has wagered at least $90,000 since enrolling in college:
- Sorsby transferred at least $60,000 to friends to place bets on his behalf.
- At least 2,900 bets were placed in Indiana for more than $30,000.
- From September to October 2022, he placed 40 bets on Indiana football totaling at least $850.
- From October 2022 to November 2023, Sorsby placed at least 50 bets on Indiana basketball totaling more than $1,400.
- From September 2022 to December 2023, Sorsby placed 300 college football bets totaling at least $6,500.
- Sorsby admits he placed “one or two” of the 3 bets on Cincinnati hoops through his account for $3,500.
- While at Texas Tech, he sent $5,000 to someone who placed bets on the NBA, MLB and PGA for him.
HAIL MARY IN LUBBOCK: BRENDAN SORSBY’S LAST SHOT TO BEAT NCAA GAMBLING ALLEGATION
Brendan Sorsby of the Cincinnati Bearcats fights in the first half against the TCU Horned Frogs at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas on Nov. 29, 2025. (Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
Brendan’s lawyers argued that the ‘integrity of the game’ was not compromised
In their defense of his play, Sorsby’s attorneys used his “mental disorder” as justification for why the NCAA should have accepted the two-game suspension proposal from the quarterback, while also proclaiming that none of the bets placed compromised the actual play.
“This case, I think, is badly misunderstood by many people,” Kessler exclaimed. “It is very important that everyone understands that it is undisputed that (Sorsby) never bet to compromise the integrity of his team, the bets he made on his team were when he was not on that team and he never bet again to do so.
“And what this case is about is when you have no threat to competitive integrity, but you have a mental illness of gambling that is plaguing — plaguing — student-athletes across the country, the NCAA said in its policies that it would consider that it would support the athlete, and instead they will punish him. That’s wrong.”
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Cincinnati Bearcats quarterback Brendan Sorsby speaks to the media during Big 12 Media Days at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas on July 8, 2025. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
No, in the real world, Sorsby was penalized by the NCAA for breaking the rules, which came four years after placing his first bet on Indiana football.
But taking the NCAA to court to enforce its own rules has become the new norm in college athletics. In this case, Brendan Sorsby sued the organization in a district court in Lubbock, Texas, hoping to get treatment in his hometown.
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Now you can throw all that out the window as this will cause a major ripple effect on college athletics going forward.
