Oregon State is scheduled to host Texas Tech for its football home opener on Sept. 12, but whether the game will still take place “is a different matter” as criticism continues to pile up against Tech after QB Brendan Sorsby was ruled eligible, according to James Crepea of the Portland OREGONIAN. OSU coach JaMarcus Shephard said that he has “a whole list of teams that could potentially be in that position” to replace Texas Tech if the school goes that direction. However, he has “not had a chance to discuss the issue yet” with incoming AD Kevin Griffin or talk to Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire. Crepea noted it would cost OSU $1M to buy out of its contract with Texas Tech. There also are obstacles about “limited teams with openings on Week 2” and implications on the Pac-12’s TV deal with CBS (Portland OREGONIAN, 6/9). In Portland, Nick Daschel writes Griffin’s first big decision with OSU should be to “tell Texas Tech to take a hike.” Texas Tech is the “marquee game on Oregon State’s 2026 home football slate,” and Sorsby cannot play in that game as part of the judicial injunction he received. Daschel writes of canceling the game, “It’s a bold move. Absolutely, it’s risky. But it’s the right move. It sends a message to Texas Tech and college athletics that credibility and ethics still matter. That college athletics has a purpose beyond a cash grab for athletes and coaches” (Portland OREGONIAN, 6/10).
MAKE A MOVE NOW: In Cleveland, Stefan Krajisnik wrote Ohio State and other Big Ten schools “should take a stand” and games against Texas Tech “should not be scheduled.” Georgia and Nebraska have already issued such an edict, and Ohio State and the Big Ten “need to follow suit.” Ohio State should be a “leading voice -- not only to send a message to Texas Tech, but also to its student-athletes and those with legal power within state borders” (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 6/9). In Denver, Sean Keeler wrote if he is Colorado AD Fernando Lovo, “I don’t wait around for Big 12 Commissioner Brent Yormark to grow a spine. I cancel anything I’ve got scheduled with Texas Tech, in all sports, until Sorsby is off the roster” (DENVER POST, 6/9). AL.com’s Michael Casagrande wrote should more schools make a decision to boycott Texas Tech, the school “would face an uncomfortable decision.” Casagrande: “Stand by the seven-figure quarterback it bought or risk hurting every team wearing Red Raider jerseys. If conferences and ADs follow through on the threats to shun Texas Tech, the Red Raiders could be all dressed up with no date to the dance” (AL.com, 6/9).
THE ONLY RULE IS THERE ARE NO RULES: In Seattle, Mike Vorel wrote there are “no rules in college sports that can’t be bypassed, no severe punishments considered permanent.” In an era “without viable enforcement, rules are requests.” Guardrails are “made of papier-mâché, trampled by money trucks.” Vorel: “Without the means to make them matter, why make rules at all?” (SEATTLE TIMES, 6/9). In Lubbock, Don Williams writes Federal Judge Ken Curry, who granted the injunction against the NCAA, “just told us we can gamble with near impunity if we make the right argument to the right judge.” The NFL banned Alex Karras and Paul Hornung for a year after they bet on NFL games. Williams: “In most ways, we’ve come a long way since 1963, when Karras and Hornung were forced to sit a year. This, on the other hand? A stunning step back, to the detriment of sports” (LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL, 6/10).
THIS COULD BE THE FINAL NAIL: In Indianapolis, Gregg Doyel wrote if Sorsby can play during the 2026 college football season, the NCAA needs to “just shut it down.” No point in having an “NCAA” if it “can’t be trusted with the most obvious decision -- the only defensible outcome.” The NCAA is “not a victim in the case of Sorsby vs. NCAA,” as the organization “did this to itself, making a mockery of its ‘leadership’ by making wrong choice after wrong choice after wrong choice -- year after year after year.” If Sorsby “can’t be banned for life from playing college sports, nobody can be banned for life from playing college sports” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 6/9).
