There was some speculation that the Big Ten could be considering a potential league-wide ban of Texas Tech athletics in light of the program’s support of now-former quarterback Brendan Sorsby. But it won’t have any impact on Illinois‘ return trip to Lubbock during the upcoming 2026-27 men’s basketball season.
According to Illini Guys’ Matthew Stevens, a Fighting Illini spokesperson confirmed the men’s basketball team fully intends to honor the return game of its home-and-home series with Texas Tech. Illinois is set to travel to Lubbock for a likely top 15 non-conference game next season. This is the return trip of last season’s 81-77 win for the Illini on Nov. 11, 2025, in Champaign.
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In light of national backlash to last week’s legal ruling granting Sorsby eligibility to play in 2026, overturning the NCAA’s permanent eligibility ban for admitted gambling activities, the Big Ten had reportedly weighed a potential conference-wide ban of all Red Raiders athletic programs. Instead, the league opted to leave it up to each individual Big Ten program, according to The Athletic‘s Ralph Russo.
Big Ten officials held a conference call with league athletic directors late last week after conference member Nebraska joined Georgia in issuing a program-wide memo formally banning any of its athletic teams from scheduling Texas Tech in light of the Red Raiders’ plan to play Sorsby in 2026. Ultimately, cooler heads prevailed, both within the Big Ten and at Texas Tech, which opted to part ways with Sorsby on Monday after the Big 12 took its pending legal dispute with the Red Raiders to federal court.
Prior to that decision, the Big 12 Conference had considered sanctioning Texas Tech for its expressed plan to play Sorsby despite his admission to gambling on his own team’s games when he was a reserve member of the Indiana football team in 2022. The entirety of the Big 12, minus the Red Raiders of course, was pushing the conference office to implement Bylaw 3.6 that allowed the league to sanction a member for “engag[ing] in any action or a course of conduct materially adverse to the best interests of the Conference” or “otherwise taken any action or omitted to take an action” that other members deem merits such severe actions.
Sorsby admitted to placing thousands of sports bets totaling more than $90,000 over a four-year period between 2022-25 while a part of both the Indiana and Cincinnati football programs. But after widespread pushback from across the college sports world and several pending legal challenges, Sorsby formally withdrew his eligibility case against the NCAA on Thursday with plans to enter the NFL Supplemental Draft next month.
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