The Big 12 Conference is not ready to walk away from its legal battle involving Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby, even as the player has taken steps to leave college football for the professional ranks.
According to a Big 12 source who spoke with ESPN, the conference’s presidents and chancellors have not pulled back the federal lawsuit that was filed earlier this week. Lingering uncertainty about Sorsby’s NFL future and whether Texas Tech could still face fallout from the legal dispute are keeping the case open. The league’s board of directors is expected to gather early next week to go over its available options.
“We don’t know the answer to those questions,” the source said. “We haven’t done anything different at this point. We’re going to reconvene next week to run through all the options. Right now that case is still active.”
The Big 12 filed suit on Monday in the Northern District of Texas, seeking a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief that would give the conference the authority to potentially discipline Sorsby under its own bylaws. Just hours after that filing, Sorsby moved toward entering the NFL supplemental draft and dropped his own lawsuit against the NCAA — a necessary step for him to be declared ineligible at the college level by Monday’s deadline.
Sorsby has admitted to breaking NCAA rules by placing thousands of sports bets, including 40 wagers on Indiana football games during the time he was a member of that program’s roster. The NFL has yet to approve his application for the supplemental draft, a process that has not resulted in a selected player since 2019.
The conference is also weighing whether Texas Tech should be held responsible for the legal expenses tied to the case. One Big 12 athletic director indicated the concern is less about penalizing the school and more about whether the entire conference should be on the hook for costs from a dispute that other member schools had no part in starting.
