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Brendan Sorsby is one of the most-hyped college football players going into 2026. He spent the past two years, lighting up the field with Cincinnati. During that stretch, he’s tossed 45 touchdowns to only 12 interceptions.
At the start of the transfer window, he was one of the sport’s most in-demand players — No. 2 in most quarterback transfer rankings. He ultimately committed to Texas Tech in January and set in motion what was supposed to be a College Football Playoff-esque season in Lubbock.
That is now in serious question over sports betting issues. That’s right, another NCAA athlete has gotten into hot water for using sports betting apps when he shouldn’t have. Keep reading, and we’ll tell you all about this bonkers story.
Sorsby Accused Of Illegally Betting
Let’s go back to 2022, this was before Sorsby’s time with the Bearcats. He originally began his career with Indiana, back when it had a lowly football program — not one that just won the national championship. While there, he’s accused of betting on football games.
Not just any game, but his own team’s game. The accusation is he repeatedly bet on the Hoosiers — to win only, never to lose. That season, he redshirted and only appeared in one game.
Of course, this is against NCAA rules. The governing body doesn’t allow student-athletes to bet on anything, whether it’s college or pro sports. Any violation means athletes are ineligible, subject to appeals.
For now, these are accusations. But as we’ve learned with these stories, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Across the country, we’ve seen these stories pop up, and more often than not, they’ve proven true. But Sorsby is also a special case because he bet on his own team, something that carries extra weight.
This exact language is in the rule book: “student-athletes who wager on their own games or on other sports at their own schools” face “permanent loss of collegiate eligibility in all sports.” That’s the absolute worst-case scenario, but even a multi-game suspension could be catastrophic for the quarterback and program, as we explain next.
Sorsby Was Set To Make Bank At Tech
Few college football players going today have played and produced as much as Sorsby. In his career, Sorsby has tallied 7,208 yards and 82 touchdowns — both running and throwing. It’s why he was expected to make around $5 million this year after NIL payments.
NIL is a big reason why Texas Tech has thrust itself as a college football powerhouse all of a sudden. They won the Big-12 conference title a year ago — its first conference championship since 1955. And it did so without much quarterback production.
Sorsby was supposed to be the answer to that, and give the Red Raiders a real fighting chance in the College Football Playoff (a game they were shutout). That’s all come into question with this investigation. But… the player and team have gone into crisis mode to at least lessen the damage. We’ll explain in the next section.
Sorsby Seeks Help Over Gambling Addiction
Sorsby and company have effectively called a Hail Mary. News came out this week that he’s checking into a residential treatment program for a gambling addiction. Texas Tech announced this news, which I don’t think is coincidental.
Look, this feels like clever public relations. The allegations supposedly stem from mostly 2022, which is now four years ago. If he truly had a gambling problem, don’t you think there’d be some more recent examples?
Look, we know that might sound harsh. We are not denying that problem gambling exists. It does, and it’s an existential threat to the sustainability of the legal sports betting industry. States and everyday citizens worrying about the issue have merit. We just don’t think Sorsby himself is addicted.
Now reports do say that Sorsby made thousands of sports bets — it was not a one-off incident. But… they were small bets in terms of dollar amount. To us, that rules out addiction. Addicts typically end up betting bigger in terms of dollar, chasing a bigger high. That doesn’t appear to be the case here. But alas, the school is posting it up as an addiction.
“We love Brendan and support his decision to seek professional help,” Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire said in the statement. “Taking this step requires courage, and our primary focus is on him as a person. Our program is behind Brendan as he prioritizes his health.”
If there is a glimmer of hope here, it appears Sorby’s actions are isolated. If it was part of a bigger scheme — with multiple players or bettors — all trying to rig performances to pay out bets, yeah, that would’ve been killer. At that point, no mental health clinic can bail you out of cheating accusations.
But anyway, we don’t want to sound too harsh on Sorby here. Many of these bets came when he was pre-20 (in legalized states, unlike the not-yet-legal Texas sports betting marketplace) and, well, kids will be kids. Should he be punished? Sure, rules are rules. But should he be suspended for the entire season? We hope not, seems excessive to us.
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