Out of seemingly nowhere, the Texas Tech Red Raiders have become the center of the college football world. Thanks to the wild back-and-forth swings in the case of star quarterback Brendan Sorsby.
Sorsby, who admitted to placing a number of bets on games involving his own team, was initially deemed ineligible to play in the upcoming 2026 season. But a newly-granted injunction from a Texas judge has cleared the way for him to return to the gridiron.
Unsurprisingly, some rival schools and conferences, even Tech’s own Big 12 Conference, haven’t exactly been pleased with this outcome.
Pete Thamel from Yahoo! Sports reported this week that the Big Ten Conference is set to meet this week to discuss a “league-wide mandate to not play Texas Tech in any sports.”
BRENDAN SORSBY WINS COURT INJUNCTION AGAINST THE NCAA DESPITE BETTING ON HIS OWN TEAM MULTIPLE TIMES
Other prominent figures, including Nebraska Athletic Director Troy Dannen, have already issued such directives to their staffs, preventing future scheduling between the two schools. There’s also been speculation that the College Football Playoff could get involved, potentially excluding Texas Tech, should they be in position to reach the tournament at the end of the season.
Well, Texas Tech’s most prominent booster, Cody Campbell, has some very pointed comments for those schools, conferences, or institutions considering taking action against the program. In an appearance on “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich” Wednesday morning, Campbell addressed those meetings directly. Very directly.
“Big Ten talking about not playing Texas Tech,” Dakich said. “The SEC you’re on and these are talks…”
TEXAS TECH MEGABOOSTER CLAIMS BIG 12 RIVALS WANT TO BOYCOTT GAMES BECAUSE THEY FEAR BRENDAN SORSBY
“I love it when the Big Ten or the K-State AD comes out and says, ‘hey, we’ve all gotten together and we’ve talked about how we’re not going to play Tech,’ because guess what? That’s collusion,” Campbell said. “You know, that’s an antitrust violation. So, you know, have fun with that one guys. You can’t do that.”
Dakich followed up by asking about the College Football Playoff selection committee, whether the school would be ready to sue if they ban Texas Tech.
“100%,” Campbell said. “I mean, like, again, they can’t collude together and say, we’re not going to allow you to play. That’s an antitrust violation. I don’t know if you’ve seen the litany of cases that the NCAA has lost over the last few years, they’ve been lost on those grounds.”
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark reportedly told the other member institutions on a conference call that they were evaluating their options with the Red Raiders and Sorsby. But Campbell has a point; legally, those trying to ban the Red Raiders from the playoff, or refusing, en masse, to schedule them, could be subject to accusations of collusion.
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Campbell also believes that Sorsby’s behavior doesn’t rise to the level that would justify such action anyway, telling Dakich that schools have let players with much worse transgressions play.
“There are kids that are playing and have gotten DUIs that have beaten up women, their kids that have committed horrible acts,” Campbell responded. “You know, I mean, nobody boycotted to play Penn State a few years ago when that horrible situation happened there.”
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Still, that doesn’t justify gambling on your own team. A cardinal sin in the sports and sports betting landscape. And claims that other schools don’t want Texas Tech to be successful, that the reaction is a “know your place” issue, also fall flat. The Big 12 is thrilled that Tech has become a nationally relevant program. The more teams that are legitimate playoff contenders each year in that conference, the better. Yormark would love nothing more than to have the Red Raiders win a championship. But even within the Big 12, there are reportedly significant concerns about the Sorsby situation.
Where this goes from here? Who knows. Initially, it seemed like there was no possibility Sorsby would play in 2026. So maybe this will all end in lawsuits between Tech and most of college football. Expect the unexpected has become the motto of this sport in recent years, and it doesn’t seem like that’s ending anytime soon.