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Two College Softball Programs Will Not Play Texas Tech Following Athletic Director Statements

The fallout from football has influenced future matchups between the Red Raiders and at least two P4 schools.
Maren Angus-Coombs|
Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Gerry Glasco reacts to a call in the first inning against the Texas Longhorns during Game One of the NCAA Women’s College World Series championship series at Devon Park.
Texas Tech Red Raiders head coach Gerry Glasco reacts to a call in the first inning against the Texas Longhorns during Game One of the NCAA Women’s College World Series championship series at Devon Park. | Brett Rojo-Imagn Images

The fallout from a court ruling involving the Texas Tech football program is crossing over into softball after two athletic directors publicly addressed the decision.

On Monday, a Lubbock judge granted quarterback Brendan Sorsby a temporary injunction against the NCAA and made him eligible for the 2026 football season.

Sorsby was guilty of placing nearly $90,00 in bets on his own team 40 times. The NCAA prohibits student-athletes and athletics department staff members from betting on collegiate athletics and professional sports. He was suspended indefinitely.

Judge Ken Curry's ruling on Monday suspended Sorsby for two games but deemed him eligible to play the rest of the season because he "has demonstrated he will suffer a probable, imminent, and irreparable injury if the court does not grant this temporary injunction."

Sorsby is expected to make around $4 million in NIL money, according to USA Today.

Because of this ruling, the athletic departments from Georgia and Nebraska have banned their programs from playing Texas Tech in any sport. More schools are expected to follow.

“Based on recent developments, Georgia Athletics will not schedule future contests against Texas Tech until further notice,” Georgia compliance director Will Lawler wrote in a memo obtained by The Athletic. “Please review your sport’s current schedules and future scheduling plans. If you have any contests currently scheduled against Texas Tech, or are actively engaged in scheduling discussions with Texas Tech, please notify your sports administrator as soon as possible so we can evaluate the situation and determine next steps.”

Nebrask'a Deputy Athletic Director Haven Field sent a similar message out.

"(Nebraska) will not schedule any contests vs. Texas Tech in any sport," Fields wrote. "If you currently have a future contest already scheduled, please connect with (athletic director) Troy (Dannen) immediately.”

How will Texas Tech softball be affected?

The Red Raiders already had scheduling issues before the Sorsby decision came down. During the 2026 season, schools from across the country silently boycotted Texas Tech by refusing to schedule the Red Raiders.

“Texas Tech had a lot of teams that chose not to or elected to not play them, and a lot of it had to do with the transfer of players and other things,” Kirk Walker, co-founder and owner of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, told The Athletic in May.

Texas Tech did not play Georgia during the 2026 season and lost its only contest to Nebraska 3-2.

If more schools come forward to boycott Texas Tech, the Red Raiders will see their RPI and strength and schedule drop even further in 2027.

After losing to Arizona State in the Big 12 Tournament title game, the Red Raiders entered the NCAA Tournament with an RPI of 14 and with their schedule lacking high-quality opponents, they ended up as the overall No. 11 seed.

Seeding clearly didn't matter for Texas Tech because the Red Raiders reached the Women's College World Series Championship Series, falling to the Texas Longhorns for a second straight year.

How the Red Raiders get through the 2027 season will depend on their schedule, their roster, and their results. So far, Texas Tech has lost a few players to the transfer portal, including Samantha Lincoln and Makayla Garcia.

Lincoln appeared in Game 1 against Texas, pitching 3.1 innings of relief. Garcia appeared in the contest as a pinch runner.

As far as the schedule is concerned, it might be heavy on the Big 12 and whoever else will be allowed to play them. Despite early reports from On3 speculating a Big 12 boycott, it would cost the league too much money. It would also give Texas Tech a free pass to the postseason.

NCAA President Charlie Baker Reacts to Sorsby Ruling

Here's NCAA President Charlie Baker's full statment from a post on X (formerly Twitter):

"There is no better example of why targeted intervention from Congress is necessary. When you have schools and deep-pocketed supporters willing to look the other way on the glaring integrity threat of betting on your own team - and judges whose rulings effectively strip away our ability to stop them - only Congress can equip the @NCAA to apply this common sense rule to everyone fairly and consistently. The Protect College Sports Act would empower the NCAA to enforce rules including the gambling restrictions - it's needed now more than ever."

NCAA Statement in Response to Sorsby Decision

Here's a statement from the NCAA on Monday's development:

"The NCAA strongly disagrees with the court’s ruling in Sorsby's case and is deeply concerned about the damaging, far-reaching and broadly destabilizing ramifications of this outcome — which undermines and corrupts the integrity of sports. The NCAA is committed to supporting student-athlete mental health but must continue to aggressively defend against actions that defraud college athletics and threaten competitive integrity, such as betting on one's own sport."

Big 12 Commission Hunter Yormark's Statement

“The ramifications of today’s ruling are significant and could have broad impacts across college athletics, creating great concern amongst our membership,” Yormark said via On3’s Brett McMurphyand Pete Nakos. “I’ve been consulting with our key stakeholders and have scheduled meetings with our Conference ADs and Executive Board this week. We are also in touch with Charlie Baker and anticipate the NCAA to appeal the order in the next 24-48 hours. We will continue to monitor and evaluate the situation.”

Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt's Statement

"As we have said before, we do not believe that the circumstances of Brendan’s case warranted permanent ineligibility. 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.”

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Maren Angus-Coombs
MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University and has been a sports writer since 2008. She has been covering college softball since 2016 for various outlets including Softball America, ESPNW and Hurrdat Sports. She is currently the managing editor of Softball On SI and also serves as an analyst for Nebraska softball games on Nebraska Public Media and B1G+.

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