Troy Dannen is a Guiding Light as Texas Tech Continues to Champion the Worst of College Athletics

Finally, some common sense is taking over.

As the toothless NCAA loses another battle in the courts, Nebraska athletic director Troy Dannen has taken it upon himself to stand up against the rot that has been infesting collegiate athletics for a while now. It's about time.

On Monday, Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby was granted a temporary injunction from a Texas judge. This allows the former Indiana and Cincinnati signal caller to play this fall in Lubbock and prevents the NCAA from punishing him.

Brendan Sorsby made the switch to Texas Tech after playing at Cincinnati, including a 2025 game against Nebraska. | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

What did Sorsby do? Only the biggest cardinal sin in sports: destroying the integrity of the game.

Sorsby wagered approximately $90,000 on professional and college sports over four years, including 40 bets on Indiana football when he was a freshman in Bloomington. You read that correctly. He wasn't just betting; he was betting on a team he was on.

The Black Sox. Pete Rose. UNLV basketball. And recently, Iowa and Iowa State athletes. From major scandals to a few dollars, the rule has been clear: bet on it and you're out. The integrity of the sport comes first.

Pete Rose was permanently banned from the sport in 1989 for betting on baseball games, including those involving his own team. | Tony Tomsic-Imagn Images

Judge Ken Curry ruled that Sorsby's attorneys demonstrated the gambling addict would suffer "probable, imminent and irreparable injury" if disallowed the ability to play in 2026.

As Saturday Night Live's Jeremy Culhane says during his Tucker Carlson impressions, "What are we doing? What's going on?"

Mental health has gone from something to be monitored and trained in the same vein as physical health to a cop-out excuse for those with the legal and financial backing to not have to face the consequences of their own actions.

Those backing Sorsby include NIL financier and Chairman of the Board of Regents of the Texas Tech University System Cody Campbell. How has such a prominent person in the world of college athletics, as it stands in 2026, spent the last 24 hours? Either fighting with or reposting burner accounts on X.

Campbell also showed his maturity for the situation with a red herring by asking Grok (X's generative artificial intelligence chatbot) how many Georgia football players had been arrested in the last year.

@grok, how many @GeorgiaFootball players have been arrested in the last year?https://t.co/WFPehoVhgN
— Cody Campbell (@CodyC64) June 8, 2026

Drinking and driving is bad. Breaking the law is bad. Those who do so face punishment. What has always been persona non grata is someone who is literally betting on himself or his team.

Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt even backed up the idea that Sorsby should be allowed to play.

"As we have said before, we do not believe that the circumstances of Brendan’s case warranted permanent ineligibility," Hocutt said. "As he returns to our football program, we remain committed to supporting Brendan’s recovery and ensuring his compliance with the court’s order. A comprehensive support structure, including clinical care, monitoring, and compliance checks, will remain fully in place for the duration of Brendan’s time as a student at Texas Tech."

Under Hocutt's leadership, Texas Tech is acting like an old Southwest Conference program. You remember the Southwest Conference, right? The league that seemed to have teams constantly violating NCAA recruiting rules, including SMU football getting the death penalty and the conference eventually falling apart.

Texas Tech director of athletics Kirby Hocutt has led a department with a clear disdain for the rules, as long as it benefits his teams. | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

But not all athletic directors are standing idly by while Texas Tech attempts to skirt the rules time and again. Dannen is leading the charge in a way that others can follow. A text message went out on Monday instructing coaches to not schedule any contests with the Red Raiders.

Dannen also issued a statement to Sports Business Journal.

"There are a lot of lines that people argue have been crossed in college athletics," Dannen said. "As money starts changing hands, there's arguments both ways. There is no argument here. This is a line of integrity of the game and the permissibility of compromise of that integrity that has been crossed and is without precedent in major sports, professional or amateur in the United States."

Georgia's AD also reportedly instructed his department not to schedule Texas Tech. Conferences are expected to discuss league-wide bans for scheduling the Red Raiders.

This isn't the first time the actions of Texas Tech have led to bans, either visible or in the shadows, to scheduling the Red Raiders.

According to Softball On SI, schools refused to schedule Texas Tech softball this past season. The reason? The way the Red Raiders went about enticing players to enter the transfer portal, even going so far as to host them in Lubbock before they had officially left their previous school.

The memo from Texas Tech leadership is clear: if you can get away with something that is clearly against the rules, or at least murky, then do so. But just because you can get away with something doesn't make it right.

In a day and age where it seems the morality, loyalty, and integrity of the games we love are fading or gone, there is still the basic knowledge of right from wrong. Nobody in Lubbock is displaying a backbone in that regard.

Hopefully, other ADs and leagues across the country take a stand, just like Nebraska.

Have a question or comment for Kaleb? Send an email to kalebhenry.huskermax@gmail.com.

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