Brendan Sorsby betting 'just tip of the iceberg.' Our experts dissect scandal
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The college football news cycle doesn’t take days off. And this week has been a doozy with the revelation of Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s gambling addiction, him stepping away from the team and the NCAA investigating, not just what it means for Sorsby, but also potentially his former schools Indiana and Cincinnati.
In our new “Sports Seriously CFB Show,” USA TODAY Sports’ college football Insiders John Brice, Matt Hayes and Paul Myerberg dive into the biggest stories. And right now that’s Sorsby and gambling. They discuss NCAA’s cozy relationship with sportsbooks, Sorsby’s betting scandal and where that leaves Texas Tech, and a potential NFL future.
And for college football fans who have been following the coaches carousel, we ask who is in the best position to succeed in Year 1 with their new school.
You can watch the full episode here (or further below in the story). Here are some highlights:
Brendan Sorsby gambling scandal ‘just tip of the iceberg’
MYERBERG: It’s a major story because it reveals what is an undercurrent for college sports and probably all sports… Gambling has taken hold in the same way maybe fantasy sports took hold 15 or 20 years ago. It’s now part of the fabric of how people watch the sport and chew up the sport. And it’s inevitable like we saw at Iowa State a few years ago, and now with Sorsby, players are going to get caught up in it… I don’t know about you guys, Brendan Sorsby is the face of it. He’s just probably the tip of the iceberg of what’s happening right now with players and gambling in the NCAA.
HAYES: Somebody turned Brendan Sorsby in. And I’m not saying Cincinnati did it. All I’m telling you is it looks very odd, especially considering Cincinnati and Brendan Sorsby were in the middle of a lawsuit about a $1 million payoff that Brendan Sorsby thinks he didn’t owe Cincinnati, and Cincinnati says he did owe them.
This is just the one thing that everybody’s seeing right now… It’s like when you stick something in the refrigerator that’s greasy and you got that little film on top of it in about six hours. That’s what this is: just a little film. Underneath is just so much more of this stuff going on that I don’t think anyone knows. And it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
YOU CAN WATCH THE FULL EPISODE BELOW:
What does Brendan Sorsby absence mean for Texas Tech?
MYERBERG: We remember from last year they built a roster that was good enough to dominate the Big 12, which they did. Not good enough to beat a team like Oregon when you get into that spot. I think Matt, you were at that game, you saw the difference between what Oregon was and what Tech was.
When they came into this season, Sorsby was like the tipping point for their team. It was the missing piece to go from, ‘We can dominate the at-best third best conference in the country, maybe sometimes fourth, but Sorsby is a guy who can take us when we get into a stage in late December, January, and make us into a team that can advance to a semi, advance to a national title game.
So, this dramatically alters that aspect of their season… Basically the ceiling has shifted back to, ‘Yeah, we can go 11-1 or 12-1 and win the Big 12. But we can’t beat Ohio State.’ That’s what happens to Texas Tech without Sorsby. It’s a substantial, significant loss in terms of how it cuts down the trajectory of their program. They thought this year would be the year they took that next step. It’s not going to happen without Sorsby under center. That’s my opinion.
What’s next for Brendan Sorsby? Does he have NFL future?
MYERBERG: He’s got a few options. The first one is the supplemental draft, which to me is a real 80s thing… I’d like to see if that’s an option for him. He could try to work through his treatment center process and get back on the field for Texas Tech. But again, who knows what sort of penalties he’s going to face.
Seems to me the most likely outcome is that he doesn’t play at all this season… It seems like there’s too many hurdles right now in his way to get back on the field.
BRICE: We don’t know if there will be supplemental draft in 2026, but I asked an NFL assistant coach this week, ‘Would the NFL touch him right now? Not any more information known.’ And he said, ‘JB, don’t forget how much the NFL loves a redemption story.’
So it sounded like to him, and I’ve talked to a couple of scouts as well, there could be a path for Sorsby to the NFL depending on how this shakes out.
Click here to listen to “Sports Seriously” podcast on Apple.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What Brendan Sorsby gambling means for Texas Tech, NCAA, his NFL future
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