{"id":337033,"date":"2026-06-15T14:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T14:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/337033\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T14:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T14:12:11","slug":"big-12-files-legal-complaint-against-texas-tech-ag-ken-paxton-amid-brendan-sorsby-saga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/337033\/","title":{"rendered":"Big 12 files legal complaint against Texas Tech, AG Ken Paxton amid Brendan Sorsby saga"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brendan Sorsby<\/a> saga has taken another dramatic turn. According to Yahoo Sports\u2019 Ross Dellenger<\/a>, the Big 12 filed<\/a> a 47-page complaint Monday against Texas Tech<\/a>, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and multiple university officials, all in an effort to preserve the conference\u2019s authority to sanction member institutions.<\/p>\n

The filing, which was submitted in the Northern District of Texas, seeks declaratory judgment and a preliminary injunction that would allow the Big 12 to enforce its bylaws regarding Texas Tech\u2019s intention to play the quarterback during the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

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Notably, the conference is not seeking financial damages and is not attempting to overturn the Texas court ruling that granted Sorsby eligibility. Instead, the Big 12 is asking a federal judge to allow the league to discipline Texas Tech without interference from Paxton\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

According to Dellenger<\/a>, the lawsuit was triggered in part by a letter sent by Paxton last week. The attorney general warned the conference that sanctions against Texas Tech could constitute antitrust violations and threatened potential legal action.<\/p>\n

The complaint also revealed that Big 12 officials, presidents and athletic directors have urged Texas Tech not to play Sorsby, though the school has reportedly refused.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a vote were to occur however,\u201d the filing states<\/a>, via Dellenger, \u201csome of the potential sanctions the Board could consider under the bylaws include monetary sanctions and\/or a ban on competing in the Big 12 Championship Game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conference leaders were scheduled to meet Monday afternoon. However, a decision on sanctions is still not expected immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is considerable concern\u201d that allowing Sorsby to compete could create \u201creputational harm and irreparable damage to public and member trust in the integrity of league competitions,\u201d according to the filing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn an industry that rarely agrees on anything, there is finally an issue that everyone seems to agree on (other than TTU and the Attorney General): universities should not field players who have bet on their own team\u2019s games in college athletics,\u201d the complaint states.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Sorsby was ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA after admitting to wagering on Indiana<\/a> football games during his time with the Hoosiers. Court documents indicate he made roughly $90,000 in impermissible wagers throughout his college career and even continued betting after transferring to Texas Tech.<\/p>\n

After the NCAA launched its investigation, Sorsby entered treatment for gambling addiction and anxiety. A Texas judge later granted him an injunction allowing him to compete during the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

The Big 12\u2019s complaint lists Texas Tech, the Texas Tech University System, Chancellor Brandon Creighton, president Lawrence Schovanec, athletic director Kirby Hocutt and Paxton as defendants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe threat that gambling poses to the integrity of athletic competition has been understood, and has been borne out by scandal, for over a century,\u201d the complaint reads. \u201cThat history informs the Conference\u2019s values and governance practices and explains why these values are non-negotiable.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the NCAA appeal still pending and the Big 12 now taking legal action against one of its own members, the Sorsby case continues to reshape the landscape of college athletics. Time will tell what the endgame is, but it doesn\u2019t seem to be going away any time soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brendan Sorsby saga has taken another dramatic turn. According to Yahoo Sports\u2019 Ross Dellenger, the Big 12…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":337034,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[49377,27,29,28],"class_list":["post-337033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-brendan-sorsby-22-lake-dallas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=337033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/337033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/337034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=337033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=337033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=337033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}