My Thoughts on the Brendan Sorsby Situation

Brendan Sorbsy at Texas Tech’s Spring Game

After Texas Tech fell to Oregon in the CFP Quarterfinals, one thing became clear: Texas Tech needed a star QB for the 2026 season. A few days after the season ended for the Red Raiders, the transfer portal opened. There were a ton of big names for HC McGuire and Co to choose from. But the one quarterback’s name who continued to pop up, Brendan Sorsby.

Brendan Sorsby was the best quarterback in the transfer portal, and Texas Tech had to battle LSU and their new Head Coach Lane Kiffin to land him. When Sorsby announced his commitment to Texas Tech, the city of Lubbock could not have been happier. From billboards in NYC, to phone calls with Patrick Mahomes promising to bring a National Championship to Texas Tech, the excitement could not have been any higher.

This all changed on April 27th, when I reported that Brendan Sorsby had checked himself into a gambling rehab facility. The sports world was in shock, and Red Raider nation was in complete disbelief. The fans thought they had all the pieces to not only compete for a National Championship, but to actually WIN one. All of the hype and hope that Texas Tech fans had, vanished in the blink of a second.

But what if I told you, I don’t think this is the end of Brendan Sorsby and his tenure as a Red Raider. What if I told you there is a very real possibility we get to witness Sorsby in the scarlet and black this upcoming season.

The issue with Sorsby and his gambling scandal is much deeper than what was originally presented.

Back in 2022, the NCAA suspended multiple Iowa State players for the full season and took away their eligibility for betting on their team to win. This situation is meaningfully different, and here’s why.

Everywhere you look: ESPN, CBS, FOX, and others all promote gambling. Every television ad, every on field promotion, even on the Sorsby article CBS posted they included a gambling ad. The NCAA is punishing the kid while the billion-dollar networks profit off the same behavior. The problem isn't college kids betting. It's the system that normalizes it.

According to numerous studies, approximately 58-67% of college students engage in sports gambling. That means for every 3 people you see on campus, 2 of them are most likely sports betting. When you isolate that to just males, the number jumps up even higher.

Let’s be honest, if you think Brendan Sorsby is the only college football player who has been sports gambling, you are delusional. While he may be the biggest name, I am fairly certain that there are at the very MINIMUM, hundreds of NCAA athletes “illegally” sports betting.

Now, I am not saying that the NCAA should let all these players bet on their own sports, but betting on a completely different sport, I don’t see the issue. If Sorsby was seen placing hundreds of bets a day at a Cincinnati Reds baseball game, there is no reason that should be against the NCAA rules. In my opinion, the NCAA should make it where you can gamble on any sport other than your own. But that topic is for another day.

The real, and frankly only issue I see, is Sorsby betting on Indiana games as a redshirt freshman. However, unlike the Iowa State players who lost their eligibility, he did not appear in any of the games he bet on, and he bet on his team to win.

So why do I think Sorsby will play this year? Well, I can list a few reasons:

1. His Lawyers

   1. Sorsby has the same lawyers who represented Tom Brady through the infamous “deflategate”. The NCAA knows Sorsby and his attorneys will not be going down without a fight, and they have multiple pathways they can go down.

2. Mental Health Issue

   1. The main reason why I think not all hope is lost, is the American Disabilities Act. Brendan Sorsby has a gambling addiction, and that is not something to be taken lightly. His attorneys know what they are doing, and can go down this route and sue the NCAA for punishing an athlete with “mental health issues.”

3. Texas Tech’s Investment

   1. If Texas Tech did not think he could regain eligibility, they would not have taken the path to pay two of the best lawyers in the Nation to represent him.

4. Lastly, if the NCAA takes away his final season of eligibility, who is to say other schools won’t come out and report other players who have gambled and done the same? The NCAA is currently getting sued by just about everyone, and this could snowball into an issue that they cannot stop if they get this case wrong.

That being said, based on everything I have heard and researched, I wholeheartedly believe that Brendan Sorsby will take some snaps in the scarlet and black next season.

All we can do now, is wait and see what happens.