Big 12 Sues Texas AG Ken Paxton and Texas Tech Over Right to Punish Gambling QB Sorsby
The Big 12 sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Tech in federal court Sunday, asking a judge to confirm it can punish the school for fielding quarterback Brendan Sorsby.
The Big 12 Conference has taken its fight over Brendan Sorsby to federal court, suing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Texas Tech University on Sunday in an attempt to confirm that it can discipline one of its own members without violating antitrust law.
The complaint, which the Big 12 filed June 14 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, landed less than a week after a state judge in Lubbock cleared Sorsby, who admitted to betting on Indiana when he was a member of the team in 2022, to play for the Red Raiders this fall.
The case pits a 16-school conference against both a marquee member institution and the state’s top law enforcement officer, turning a campus eligibility dispute into a constitutional and antitrust showdown. At its core, the suit asks for a ruling that the Big 12 has the authority to sanction Sorsby.
Big 12 Makes its Case
The Big 12 seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, not damages. In practical terms, the conference wants a court’s blessing to ban Sorsby from competing. It names Paxton in his official capacity, alongside Texas Tech, Chancellor Brandon Creighton, President Lawrence Schovanec, and Athletic Director Kirby Hocutt.
The conference builds its case around four theories. It cites the First Amendment, arguing that it operates as an “expressive association” that has repeatedly and publicly condemned sports betting by athletes. It says forcing the conference to associate with, or appear to endorse, Texas Tech’s decision to field Sorsby would compel speech it does not wish to make. It also argues that Paxton and Texas Tech have used threats, retaliation, and coercion to suppress the conference’s right to disassociate.
The Big 12 also raises an antitrust issue, asking the court to declare that sanctioning Texas Tech would not violate Section 1 of the Sherman Act and does not amount to the “per se” violation Paxton’s office alleged. The conference leans on several cases to show precedent.
The Big 12 also argues that its bylaws form an interstate contract among schools across ten states and that Texas seeks to nullify a nationwide disciplinary framework to shield an in-state institution. The conference calls that textbook “economic protectionism”.
The fourth count targets Texas Tech directly. The Big 12 asks the court to declare that sanctions under the conference’s own bylaws would not breach any contract with the school. Bylaw 3.6 allows a supermajority of votes to sanction a member for conduct it deems counter to the conference’s best interests.
Possible penalties named in the filing range from monetary fines to a ban from the Big 12 Championship Game.
Most importantly, the conference insists that it holds authority independent of the NCAA. It argues that even if every NCAA eligibility rule disappeared tomorrow, the Big 12 could still decide whether a member’s conduct aligns with conference values.
Paxton Warned Big 12 Not to Sanction Texas Tech
The lawsuit directly responds to a June 11 letter from Paxton’s office, which was written on behalf of Texas Tech and addressed to Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark and Chair Doug Girod, chancellor of the University of Kansas.
The letter warned the conference not to invoke Bylaw 3.6..
Paxton’s office argued that any sanction against Texas Tech would create an antitrust violation, which it called a “naked horizontal agreement among competitors” to disadvantage the school.
The letter put the conference and its members on notice of potential liability of “substantially more than $200 million,” citing treble damages, lost football revenues, alumni contributions, and recruiting harm. It also threatened claims for breach of contract and “tortious interference” over any disruption to Texas Tech’s scheduled games or commercial deals.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond sided with the Big 12, penning his own letter on June 12, calling the notion that a conference cannot discipline its members under an agreed-upon contract “facially absurd.”
How Sorsby Got Here
Sorsby became the flashpoint after he admitted to placing at least 2,900 bets totaling more than $30,000 over a four-year period, including 40 in 2022 when he was sideline as a member of the Hoosiers. The player, who transferred from Cincinnati to Texas Tech ahead of the upcoming football season on a name, image and likeness package worth at least $5 million, sued the NCAA after it declined to reinstate him.
Judge Ken Curry issued a temporary injunction blocking the NCAA from permanently banning the player. The NCAA requested an accelerated appeal to the state court in Amarillo, but the court set a trial date for two weeks after the College Football Playoff Championship.
That timeline also creates a problem for the Big 12, so the conference says it cannot wait. Member schools are pressing for a sanctions vote now, and the federal lawsuit represents the conference’s attempt to clear the uncertainty before the first kickoff.
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