The Big 12 has dropped its federal lawsuit against Texas Tech University, school officials and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, according to court documents obtained Monday by The Athletic.
The case was tied to the Brendan Sorsby eligibility fight and ended with a voluntary dismissal with prejudice, which means it cannot be filed again.
That lawsuit landed in U.S. district court in Texas in June, just after Sorsby was granted eligibility through a state court ruling in Lubbock County. Before that, the NCAA had permanently ruled him ineligible because of excessive gambling violations.
The conference’s filing also came after a letter from Paxton’s office warned against any Big 12 punishment for Texas Tech over using Sorsby in 2026. Under Texas law, the attorney general represents Texas Tech in court.
In its suit, the Big 12 said Paxton and Texas Tech were infringing on the league’s First Amendment rights by threatening penalties if the conference moved ahead with bylaws and sanctions against member schools.
The matter never got far in court, but the Big 12’s move appears to have worked exactly as intended. By going to federal court on First Amendment grounds and pointing to the Paxton letter, the conference forced Sorsby into a decision: stay at Texas Tech and keep fighting for eligibility, or head toward the NFL supplemental draft by the summer deadline with a shot at playing in the league in 2026.
With possible penalties hanging over the program, including a ban from the conference championship game, neither Texas Tech nor Sorsby wanted to expose the team to that risk. Sorsby eventually left the Red Raiders, dropped his own state lawsuit against the NCAA and accepted the permanent ineligibility ruling in June. He later was denied entry into the NFL’s supplemental draft this summer and is now training for the 2027 NFL Draft next spring.
The SEC took a similar legal route last week in a federal case against LSU over the possibility of the Tigers rostering former professional football players for the 2026 season. LSU did not use any of those players in Week 1, though it could still add them later.
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