Josh Brooks questions Texas Tech’s eligibility after Sorsby injunction, as NCAA vows to appeal

A Lubbock, Texas, judge’s ruling Monday shifted the balance of a college football eligibility fight that has reverberated across the sport’s anti-gambling framework. Judge Ken Curry granted Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby a temporary injunction against the NCAA, clearing Sorsby to participate with the Red Raiders during the 2026 season even though the NCAA had declared him permanently ineligible for wagering on college athletics.

The ruling immediately put the NCAA on the defensive, and it also prompted public pushback from other major conference schools. Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks, who sits on the NCAA Football Oversight Committee, told Yahoo Sports he believed the broader fallout had reached a point where conferences may need to reconsider whether to allow Texas Tech to compete while the case plays out. “I think there needs to be serious conversations about not playing Texas Tech in any sports,” Brooks said, adding that if a state court is dictating eligibility, “they can play themselves.”

Sorsby’s eligibility was at the center of the dispute because the NCAA’s gambling rules generally treat wagering on one’s own team as an automatic, season-ending violation with lifelong consequences for eligibility. In court filings summarized by AP, Sorsby acknowledged thousands of impermissible bets totaling at least $90,000 during his time at Indiana, Cincinnati and Texas Tech, including 40 bets on Indiana while he was a freshman in 2022. The NCAA’s position has been that maintaining those restrictions protects the integrity of competition.

Curry’s order did not simply erase the dispute. It temporarily prevents the NCAA from blocking Sorsby from practicing, playing or otherwise participating with Texas Tech’s 2026 football team, but it comes with conditions. AP reported the injunction requires continued counseling for Sorsby’s gambling issues and participation in peer support through Gamblers Anonymous or a similar program. The order also requires continued treatment aimed at underlying anxiety described as a driver of his gambling behavior.

The court-approved remedy also includes practical limits on when Sorsby can be on the field. AP reported he will miss Texas Tech’s first two games of the 2026 season, sitting out the opener against Abilene Christian on Sept. 5 and then the following game versus Oregon State. He is expected to return for the Red Raiders’ Big 12 opener at home against Houston on Sept. 18, putting his availability squarely in the conference title picture.

The NCAA said it strongly disagrees with the ruling and warned it could be destabilizing to college sports. AP reported that the governing body described the decision as damaging and far-reaching, and it emphasized its commitment to student-athlete mental health while still defending against acts it views as threatening competitive integrity, including betting on one’s own sport. With an appeal expected, the injunction is also likely to keep legal and administrative teams across college football focused on how courts interpret the NCAA’s authority and what remedies follow when eligibility enforcement is paused by a state court.

Across the sport, the case has become a test of how quickly eligibility standards can fracture under court orders and how other institutions will respond. AP reported Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said the ruling “could have broad impacts” across college athletics and that league leadership planned internal discussions as the NCAA pursues appellate options. For Texas Tech, the immediate question is whether the compliance requirements in the order are sufficient for a continued 2026 run, while for the NCAA and its member schools, the next steps are about whether the injunction survives appellate scrutiny and whether similar cases accelerate.