Texas Tech is sharpening its knives as the Big 12 considers sanctions against the school if it decides to play quarterback Brendan Sorsby this fall.
The Texas Attorney General's office put the conference on notice Thursday, warning in a formal letter on behalf of Texas Tech that any attempt to sanction the school would constitute a per se antitrust violation and expose the conference to more than $200 million in liability. The letter came in direct response to discussions among the conference to punish Tech after a judge on Monday provided Sorsby a temporary injunction against the NCAA, prohibiting the organization from banning the quarterback from participating in the upcoming season after he admitted to sports betting, including on games at Indiana during his time as a backup in 2022.
The letter specifically outlines a bylaw Big 12 leaders are considering as a punishment, which permits the conference to sanction a school if a supermajority (12 of 15 schools) determines Texas Tech engaged in conduct materially adverse to the conference's best interests.
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The letter was signed by the state's chief of the Antitrust Division and the chief of the General Litigation Division.
The Big 12 received the letter shortly before its executive board meeting, which includes four university presidents. After the meeting, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark said action is still under discussion and that "all options remain on the table."
Echoing the attorney general's letter, noted attorney Jeffrey Kessler sent a similar letter to the Big 12 on behalf of Sorsby, warning of potential litigation if the school or Sorsby is sanctioned by the Big 12.
"What does it say about the Big 12 if it decides to lawlessly violate a court order?" Kessler wrote. "What message does it send to its students if its response to a lawful court order is to be contemptuous of its terms? One would expect something more honorable from the conference and its member schools."
In preparation for a potential lawsuit, Kessler also asked that the Big 12 and its members preserve documents related to Sorsby and the court's order.
Kessler, the attorney who successfully negotiated a resolution to the multi-billion-dollar House v. NCAA settlement last year, represented Sorsby in his successful push for a temporary injunction against the NCAA earlier this month.
"Sentiment among the Executive Board was no different from what we heard from the ADs earlier this week," Yormark said in a statement released Thursday afternoon. "Our discussion with the full board will determine our course of action, and all options remain on the table."
As CBS Sports reported Tuesday, every Big 12 athletic director is adamant that Sorsby should not play this season.
The Big 12's full roster of presidents and chancellors is scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss the Sorsby situation. A final decision is not expected Monday, but the meeting is expected to signal which options the Big 12 could take in the near future.
The backdrop to Thursday's legal escalation is a situation that has unraveled rapidly since Monday, when a judge's four-page order granted Sorsby eligibility in part so he could make an informed decision about his NFL future. Sorsby admitted to placing thousands of bets over four years, including multiple on his own team while redshirting at Indiana. Under the order, he will sit out the first two games against Abilene Christian and Oregon State before returning for the Big 12 opener Sept. 18 against Houston.
Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt defended the program's position and pushed back on critics questioning the school's integrity on Wednesday.
"Texas Tech is not a party to Brendan's lawsuit," Hocutt said in a statement. "We did not file it. We did not fund it. A young man in treatment for a clinically diagnosed addiction exercised his legal right to seek a remedy in court, and a judge agreed with him. Our role has been to support his recovery, not to engineer his eligibility."
Hocutt added, "I've heard the word 'integrity' used a great deal in the last 48 hours. I also think integrity applies on more than one front. The integrity of sport matters. So does the integrity of how we treat a 22-year-old who sought help, entered residential treatment, and is working every day toward recovery."
The backlash has been swift and expansive. Georgia and Nebraska athletic directors have vowed not to schedule Texas Tech going forward, and more drastic ideas are circulating among athletic directors across the sport. As CBS Sports reported Wednesday, leaders are preparing for war if Sorsby takes the field.
At the center of it all is Cody Campbell, the chair of Texas Tech's board of regents, a billionaire donor who has poured money into both the Red Raiders' roster and the Protect College Sports Act, which is already facing opposition from the Big Ten and SEC on Capitol Hill. The Sorsby situation has made that political calculus even more complicated, potentially turning Texas Tech and Campbell into an adversary of the very conferences the bill needs to survive.
The Big 12 now sits in a vice. Move to sanction Texas Tech and face the legal exposure the attorney general's office put in writing Thursday, or stand down and absorb the fury of every other athletic director in the league -- and risk the broader fallout across a sport already asking whether foundational rules mean anything at all.
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