More legal battles are imminent if the Big 12 teams' agenda of boycotting the Red Raiders makes it past another level of power.
LUBBOCK - "You want to play this game? We can do this all over again," says Texas Tech administrators (not really, but probably) as national outcry continues over Brendan Sorsby being granted new life with an injunction against the NCAA that allows him to play this season.
The former Indiana and Cincinnati quarterback admitted to years of substantial gambling - clear signs of not only an addiction, but also a violation of the NCAA's longstanding policies regarding gambling on sports in which a student-athlete is involved.
As a result, this week has roared on with everyone but your neighbor chiming in on the saga. Most are calling for Sorsby not to be allowed to play, despite the court's ruling that his eligibility is revived and not to be affected by the NCAA.
Others are calling out the broken system for allowing such litigation to sidestep the NCAA's governance so easily in the first place, again.
And it's those inside the industry who, in theory, have the platforms necessary to initiate change, who are being the loudest.
They're also being the most severe and aiming their aggression at Texas Tech.
Instead of having discussions around reform, teams' power circles are stuck on Sorsby's eligibility, about how and why the most sought-after recruit in the transfer portal just months ago is allowed to see the field again following a scandal that has shaken the ethics around amateur sports.
Texas Tech's own Big 12 Conference and commissioner Brett Yormark have held committee meetings with athletic directors and university presidents over the matter in the days following Monday's breaking news.
Members are lobbying for Yormark to (somehow) pull strings to rectify the court's decision, but there are repercussions ... if things even get past this level of "power".
After rumors of Big 12 teams banding together to boycott playing the Red Raiders this upcoming school year - obvious signs of collusion that go against the conference's membership bylaws - Texas Tech's athletic department has swung back.
Texas Attorney General and the GOP nominee for the state's Senate seat, Ken Paxton, has informed the Big 12 that Texas Tech has made it clear it will pursue legal action if there is any form of league sanctioning against the school.
In playing Sorsby, the Red Raiders would be operating under a court order, and anything disrupting that from happening, Paxton says, "would be unlawful and would expose the Conference to substantial liability."
Texas Tech booster and an influential voice in the pursuit of federal college sports reform, Cody Campbell, spoke about the possibility on Dan Dakich's podcast shortly before Paxton's release.
"They can't collude together and say we're not going to allow you to play," Campbell said. "That's an antitrust violation."
According to the documents, any punishment against Texas Tech in a form that interrupts the court's order and strays from regular conference orientation "would be a per se violation of federal and state antitrust laws — a naked horizontal agreement among competitors to disadvantage Texas Tech by cutting off access to the resources it needs to compete."
The final warning - and what Texas Tech hopes is a coup de grâce to this extreme agenda - is as direct as expected.
"Should the Big 12 seek to sanction Texas Tech for acting consistent with the Order, Texas Tech will pursue all legal avenues to protect its interests and those of Texas Tech’s student-athletes."
Said one person close to the situation to Yahoo! Sports:
"If you want to go to battle with Texas Tech, get ready: We're going to battle."
