Up until the Super Regional series in softball last month against Texas Tech, most Gator fans probably didn’t have too much of an opinion on the Red Raiders. Outside of their sudden rise in relevance across the board, thanks to oil money, the only other meaningful crossing of the two teams came in 2025 during the 2025 Elite Eight in basketball.
But as the Brendan Sorsby saga drags on, Florida fans find themselves having no love lost for Texas Tech and ultimately find themselves in the position of needing to side with a school like UCF.
Florida fans continue to keep an eye on Brendan Sorsby case
It came out Monday that the Big 12 is going to pursue legal action against Texas Tech. At the core of this battle, the Big 12 is fighting back against Ken Paxton, the Texas state attorney general, claiming that he personally would prevent the Big 12 from “exercising its right under its bylaws to sanction Texas Tech.”
The whole thing has been a mess as Sorsby has admitted to sports gambling, including making bets on Indiana Football while he was a member of Indiana Football. A recent court injunction cleared the way for him to play in 2026, prompting teams to threaten not to play Texas Tech in any sport.
On the surface, Florida fans wouldn’t have a direct dog in the fight. But that Super Regional series left a sour taste in the mouths of a ton of fans. The Gators didn’t help themselves in that series and could have handled some of the tension much better, but Texas Tech was no angels either. Combine their antics once they got the WCWS, which included baseless acquisitions towards Tennessee, and the Red Raiders haven’t been making too many friends along the way.
Yes, that’s softball, and ultimately we're dealing with a case involving football. But there is a growing sense that, no matter the sport, Texas Tech is trying to create a system where they can just do whatever they want, and they cry victim when someone calls them out on it.
Plus, if Florida’s ultimate goal is to win a national title in football, the Gators are bound to cross paths with Texas Tech on the gridiron at some point down the road. There is already a slight battle underway as Florida is trying to flip five-star DT Jalen Brewster, who is currently committed to Texas Tech.
Scott Stircklin hasn’t stuck his nose too much into the proceedings, but he did state after the initial Sorsby ruling that cleared the way for him to play that:
"As someone who grew up reading about the 'Black Sox Scandal,' and seeing what happened to Pete Rose and just understanding how bright that line seemed to be in all of American sports, I'm stunned that there would be a question at the court level that this is acceptable. That's not a judgment on the young man. It's just that was a pretty fundamental tenet of American sports, that if you're going to participate, you can't gamble, especially on your own team."
As the Big 12 ramps up its fight, Florida fans are bound to side with the likes of UCF in a rare moment of solidarity in hoping that common sense prevails.
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