Damn. There are some evenings or mornings where I don’t even know where to start. Today is one of those days. I am sue that you all are tired of hearing about the Brendan Sorsby situation, but it’s still dominating the headlines so that’s where we’ll go.
I am also having a tough time feeling sympathy for Sorsby, which is I think a problem for me and I’m trying to figure out why. I grew up with my friends having a bookie, the kind where you call and and make bets and try to tease a point down and all of that stuff. I’ve never bet on a game so I think it’s difficult for me to understand the vicious cycle (I obviously do understand the cycle) of making and placing bets. I know that gambling can ruin lives and and people do and are addicted to gambling in as much as anything else, whether that be alcohol or drugs. I know all of that, but am still having a tough time seeing Sorsby as the victim in all of this. And maybe because I grew up with friends who bet on games from an early age and they knew that it wasn’t legal, but they didn’t care. They had expendable income and it was normal. And they may be in debt, but they sort of knew what they signed up for. And my friends all still bet today, but they bet online just like everyone else.
On3’s Pete Nakos reports more on the Sorsby situation and that he’s been receiving monthly payments thus far since he arrived:
Sorsby has been receiving monthly payments from Texas Tech since arriving in Lubbock, sources told On3. He has three main contracts — one revenue-sharing agreement with the institution, an adidas deal and an outside contract with a multi-media rights company. With his next payment not due for a couple of weeks, no decisions have been made about future payments.
And Sorsby has been placing 20 bets per day:
Sources who have reviewed the betting data told On3 that, dating back to 2022, Sorsby placed more than 10,000 wagers and at one point averaged 20 bets per day. The quarterback placed bets across multiple states, using a range of gambling apps, including Hard Rock Bet, BetMGM, DraftKings, PrizePicks and bet365, among others, sources said.
Texas Tech was notified of the NCAA investigation in the last two weeks. Sources said the NCAA approached the school with a handful of betting data in hand, but it’s unclear who tipped off the governing body. A USA Today report on Monday night stated the Cincinnati athletic department was alerted in August that star quarterback Brendan Sorsby was gambling before the start of the 2025 season.
Sources familiar with the situation told On3 that the Cincinnati athletic department was aware of Sorsby’s gambling before the summer of 2025, but the athletic department would not knowingly play an athlete who violated NCAA rules.
So Cincinnati maybe knew, but didn’t say anything?
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Cincinnati Enquirer’s Dave Clark got quotes from college football blowhard Tim Brando and says that Texas Tech should have vetted the situation better:
“It’s just the tip of the iceberg to some extent,” Brando said on 365 Sports. “We should not be shocked by this at all. As it relates to the level of vetting through the transfer portal, perhaps this will speed a few things up. … Had the vetting (of Sorsby) been deeper and stronger and more efficient, (this) probably wouldn’t have happened. My friends down (at LSU) are feeling like they dodged a big one. They dodged a big bullet losing out on the Sorsby sweepstakes.”
“But the truth of the matter is for anyone to suggest that certain schools did not know … there were people in Indiana talking about this back in (2022),” Brando continued. “It’s just in this day and time … 2022 might as well be 1922. I mean we forget. People just don’t keep up with the history that much … particularly in college sports, and that’s unfortunate. … Why aren’t people vetting, and why aren’t people doing their homework to the extent that they need to?”
The Athletic’s Justin Williams reports that Indiana did not know of Sorsby’s gambling until Monday and is also reporting that Cincinnati knew of Sorsby’s gambling in the summer of 2025, before the season. And based on this, my guess is that Sorsby will not take a snap for Texas Tech:
If there is sufficient evidence Sorsby placed bets on Indiana football while with the team in 2022, he would be deemed permanently ineligible, according to updated NCAA sports betting guidelines passed in 2023. The guidelines don’t allow for mitigating factors when an athlete is found to have bet on that player’s own school, even if the athlete cooperates with the investigation in that scenario.
If ruled ineligible, Sorsby could pursue a lawsuit in hopes of a court reinstating his eligibility, and/or he could enter the NFL Supplemental Draft this summer. The league canceled the supplemental draft last summer, and no player has been selected in it since 2019, but a prospect of Sorsby’s caliber — projected as a potential early-round selection in 2026 — could garner interest from NFL teams. That also does not guarantee the NFL would hold the supplemental draft.
With Williams reporting that Indiana didn’t know until Monday, but Brando claiming that people in Indiana knew about it in 2022, then I’d love to get Curt Cignetti and Brando in a room together to hash Brando’s allegation out.