The Brendan Sorsby ruling has highlighted a major issue in college football once again.
The Courts are Now Deciding Eligibility
Sorsby was one of the top quarterbacks in the transfer portal and elected to play for the Texas Tech Red Raiders this season.
However, he was ruled ineligible after it was discovered that he placed $90,000 in bets over four years. Some of those involved the Indiana Hoosiers when he was a freshman there.
This is a cardinal sin in sports, and if found guilty, players lose their eligibility. However, Sorsby took his case to the courts. His attorneys argued the NCAA ignored its own rules by failing to consider Sorsby’s well-being when it ruled him ineligible, describing this as a mental health issue, meaning the NCAA is obligated to support and not punish.
A judge granted that, paving the way for him to play this season. But has since been appealed by the NCAA.
The NCAA’s Authority is Being Challenged
ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit appeared on “The Dan Patrick Show.” He said this ruling shows one of college football’s biggest problems.
“I think the biggest thing for me, and all of us who follow college football, is who is the governing body of the sport and what power does that governing body have, if any?” Herbstreit said.
“The NCAA, when they found out about this, ruled him ineligible. And like we’ve seen in many other cases, when somebody finds out that the NCAA didn’t give them the answer that they want, they go, ‘No problem. We’re just going to go to our local jurisdiction, our local judge and find out if we can make this happen.”
Herbstreit is right. There isn’t a governing body that is allowed to do anything. The NCAA makes a ruling, and then it immediately gets taken to court. In some cases, they win.
But in others, they lose. This highlighted it even more, because the no-gambling rule was pretty cut-and-dried. If you gamble, you lose your eligibility. Period. Yet, somehow Sorsby’s legal team found a way around that, and a judge granted it.
College Sports Needs a CBA
If the rules like that can’t even be enforced, then we are facing an even bigger problem in college athletics. One that can only be saved if a true governing body can take control of it.
This will likely need to end with a CBA being agreed upon. That’s the only way a lot of these rules can be enforced.
The Sorsby case is becoming less about one quarterback and more about the future structure of college athletics.
As long as eligibility disputes can be rerouted through local courts, the NCAA will continue struggling to enforce even its most fundamental rules. Whether that leads to a stronger governing body, a players’ union or a formal CBA, the pressure to create a more enforceable system is only growing.
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