- A notice of voluntary dismissal with prejudice, filed Sept. 4 in Dallas federal court, closed the case.
- The conference’s statement described an internal resolution with Texas Tech and named no penalty for the school.
- The June 15 suit named Texas Tech, its university system, university leaders and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
- Brendan Sorsby stays permanently ineligible; the betting he admitted ran four years, passed 9,000 wagers and reached at least $90,000.
DALLAS – The Big 12 Conference ended its federal case against Texas Tech over quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s gambling ineligibility on Sept. 4, filing a notice in the Northern District of Texas that dismisses the conference’s claims with prejudice.
A With-Prejudice Ending
The Big 12 asked the court to dismiss the case with prejudice, according to KCBD’s report on the filing. That form of dismissal permanently surrenders the claims, so the conference cannot bring the same case against Texas Tech again. No reason for the retreat appears in the filing, and no sanction against the school appears in the filing or the conference’s statement.
“The Big 12 conference and Texas Tech have resolved this matter internally. We are moving ahead together as a conference, 16 strong,” a conference spokesperson said in a statement to Front Office Sports.
The withdrawal leaves unanswered the question the suit was built to test: whether a conference can sanction a member school under its own bylaws for playing an athlete a state court has cleared. No federal court reached the merits, so the next league facing a state-court eligibility injunction will start without precedent, as the Big 12 did in June.
What The June Suit Sought
The Big 12 sued on June 15 in the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, naming Texas Tech, the Texas Tech University System, university leaders and Paxton. The complaint asked the court to declare that conference bylaws would still bind the school if it put Sorsby on the field despite his NCAA ban.
Permanent ineligibility came down from the NCAA in April, once Sorsby admitted a four-year betting habit that spanned college and pro sports and ran past 9,000 wagers, staking at least $90,000. The conduct surfaced in April, when the Texas Tech quarterback was caught betting on CFB and entered a rehabilitation program.
A Lubbock judge granted Sorsby a temporary injunction on June 8, but the school told him on the day the Big 12 filed that it would not play him in 2026. Sorsby answered by dropping his own NCAA case, also with prejudice, a filing that closed out his college eligibility. The NFL declined to hold a 2026 supplemental draft.
Texas Tech Plays On
The dismissal removes the last open legal question hanging over a team that entered the season as the Big 12 favorite even without Brendan Sorsby. Will Hammond, now the quarterback behind the Red Raiders’ numbers on college football props boards, started the season opener.
Sorsby is preparing for the 2027 NFL draft. Texas Tech opens Big 12 play on Sept. 18 against Houston.
