ESPN's gameday analyst Kirk Herbstreit has watched college football long enough to know when something feels different. And the Brendan Sorsby ruling just felt wrong to him.

Herbstreit appeared on the Dan Patrick Show on Thursday and dove straight to the real issue. The part that bothered him most wasn't Sorsby's g*******, but rather the way the injunction was obtained.

"It's sickening that if you don't hear what you like, you can just go to your local judge and find the answer that you want," Herbstreit said. "I just don't know where this ends."

The NCAA ruled Sorsby ineligible after finding out that he placed thousands of b***, including on Indiana football games, while he was on the roster. Texas Tech appealed, but the NCAA still said no.

So Sorsby's legal team went to a local court in Lubbock and got Judge Ken Curry to grant the injunction anyway. The NCAA's ruling became irrelevant.

It's this pattern that Herbstreit thinks is appalling. He made clear that this went beyond any frustration with Sorsby personally. It was about what the decision represented for the sport going forward.

The ESPN analyst asked the ultimate question that everyone in college football is sitting with right now.

"I think the biggest thing for me is who's the governing body over the sport and what power does that governing body have, if any?" Herbstreit said on the Dan Patrick Show.

College football does not have a clear answer to any of this. The season starts in September. Sorsby will be on the field.

Herbstreit Says This Is Bigger Than Just The Sorsby Case

The Sorsby ruling is not the only time a local court has overruled the NCAA recently. Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss was granted an injunction to play in 2026 after the NCAA denied his medical hardship waiver.

Alabama basketball player Charles Bediako also received a temporary restraining order to play for the Crimson Tide this past season, despite having played in the NBA G-League. He got five games in before the court denied his request for a preliminary injunction.

These cases keep happening. Local judges keep stepping in, and the NCAA keeps losing control over its own rules. Upon seeing the bigger picture, Herbstreit's frustration makes a lot of sense.

Do you think the NCAA needs more legal power to enforce its own rules? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Farheen Fathima

Edited by

Arundhoti Palit