The Big 12 stages its conference championship in Dallas (sort of). Dallas will be the site of another significant Big 12 skirmish.
Via Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, the conference has sued Texas Tech and various individuals (including Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, but not quarterback Brendan Sorsby) seeking a declaratory judgment and an injunction regarding the Big 12’s ability to sanction Texas Tech if it uses Sorsby in a game.
The 47-page complaint, which mentions gambling controversies from the Black Sox scandal to Pete Rose and beyond, was filed in federal district court in Dallas. The lawsuit attempts to differentiate the lawsuit filed by Sorsby against the NCAA, treating the application of Big 12 bylaws as a separate issue from the application of NCAA bylaws.
As a practical matter, the Big 12 won the race to the courthouse — if Sorsby and/or Texas Tech were considering expanding the existing litigation in Lubbock County for the purposes of preventing the Big 12 from taking its own action as to Sorsby. (Don’t be surprised if that’s the next move.)
A federal judge will be less influenced by the localized pressure that applies to state-court judges. In Sorsby’s case, however, the local judge with Texas Tech ties stepped aside. The case was decided by a retired judge from a different county.
Still, federal court judges have a lifetime appointment, freeing them completely from the political realities that apply in state court.
The Big 12 lawsuit specifically seeks a declaration protecting the conference’s ability to enforce its bylaws regarding gambling, a declaration that imposing such sanctions does not violate federal antitrust laws, a declaration that Paxton’s threatened litigation against the Big 12 violates the Commerce Clause, and an injunction preventing Texas Tech, Paxton, and the other defendants “from seeking to deter, coerce, prevent, or punish the Big 12 for exercising its rights under its Bylaws to sanction” Texas Tech, if the school uses Sorsby in a game.
The lawsuit puts back on the table the possibility of Sorsby accepting his ineligibility, withdrawing his lawsuit, and entering the supplemental draft. With a June 22 deadline looming, Sorsby could miss the window to jump to the NFL — and Texas Tech could lose the new lawsuit, which could (and likely would) prevent Sorsby from playing college football in 2026.
He’ll need to make an objective, clear-eyed assessment of the risks, and he’ll need to make a decision by next Monday as to whether he’ll apply for the supplemental draft.
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