From envied by most, to hated by all. Texas Tech crossed a line it can’t explain away
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They were the cool kids on the block, the everyman tired of getting pushed around but with enough financial heft to do something about it.
Now they’re just the annoying neighbor, blaring techno music at all hours from a brand new booming sound system — because the HOA is toothless, and you can’t do a thing about it.
From envied by most, to hated by all. In a matter of hours.
How Texas Tech couldn’t see this coming weeks away ― while fumbling its response to Brendan Sorsby’s admitted gambling addiction ― is as profoundly remarkable as it was completely avoidable.
Fighting the Big Ten and SEC super conferences at their own money game with billionaire booster Cody Campbell is one thing. Fighting the NCAA on the unspeakable sin of gambling in college sports is, as they say on the windswept landscape of West Texas, “Windier than a 50-pound bag of whistling lips.”
All hot air, no substance.
There’s no excuse for Texas Tech to declare Sorsby ineligible, and then apply to the NCAA for his reinstatement — after learning of his habitual gambling problems.
No excuse for Texas Tech to not simply tell Sorsby — who, like all NCAA athletes, signs an affidavit every season stating he hasn’t gambled — you can play somewhere else, but you’re not playing here.
No excuse to make it clear to all involved in the ever-flexible world of college sports rules enforcement, this was the line no one can cross. Not even a star quarterback from the transfer portal who just rolled into town as the missing piece of a championship buildout.
Because if there is no trust in competition, there is no competition.
Sorsby has gambled on sports since the 2022 season with Indiana, and through two seasons at Cincinnati in 2024-25. He bet on various sports (including on Indiana football games), he bet unders and overs and props.
He knew every single time he placed a bet it was wrong, and was jeopardizing his NCAA eligibility. He admitted to all of those undeniable truths, and argued they were all part of a “mental disorder.”
Now think about this: Cincinnati, in the past two seasons with Sorsby as its starting quarterback, was 0-8 in games played in November.
The Bearcats were 5-2 in 2024 before losing five straight to finish the season. They were 7-1 last season, and in the middle of the College Football Playoff hunt, before losing four straight to finish the regular season.
Two of the eight games were against ranked teams, and all were Big 12 conference games. In those eight games, Sorsby had 10 touchdown passes and seven interceptions.
In all other games over the 2024-25 seasons, he had 35 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Sorsby also had four fumbles lost over the past two Novembers, pushing his total to 11 turnovers in those eight games. There were three one-possession losses, and two of those losses had similar betting line circumstances.
- Arizona was a 5.5-point favorite against Cincinnati in 2025, and the over was 56.5. The teams combined for 54 points in a 30-24 Arizona win, and Sorsby had two interceptions: one on the first play of the game at the Cincinnati 25, and another in the second quarter on the Cincinnati 30. The two turnovers led to 10 Arizona points.
- Cincinnati was a 5.5-point favorite against West Virginia in 2024, and the over was 54.5. The teams combined for 55 points in a 31-24 WVU win, and Sorsby threw a pick six, threw a fumbled backward pass returned for a touchdown, and had another fumble that led to a WVU field goal.
Do those oddly consistent circumstances mean Sorsby was shaving points, or manipulating the game in any way? No one knows — and that’s the point.
When a player has an admitted history of gambling, the integrity of the game is constantly questioned. Past, present and future.
It took me all of five minutes to find those numbers on Sorsby and Cincinnati, which is just as culpable as Texas Tech in this win at all cost ideal. The Bearcats knew Sosrby was gambling before last season ― it doesn’t matter which sport ― and played him, anyway.
Any gambling — be it on an athlete’s particular sport or games, or otherwise — is detrimental to the integrity of the game. If an athlete loses money gambling on anything, he’s liable to do anything to get out of the monetary hole.
Texas Tech knew all of this, had all the metadata from the NCAA about Sorsby’s gambling addiction, and still decided it would declare him ineligible and immediately apply for his reinstatement.
Texas Tech did this knowing full well, of course, the NCAA would deny its reinstatement appeal and the decision would be placed in the hands of a Texas judge. If there’s one thing the good folks in the state of Texas are clear about, it’s that you’re not coming into Texas and telling Texans what they can and can’t do.
Which sounds a lot like Texas Tech over the past 12 months.
It started out as a story for the ages, with a billionaire booster full of bravado taking on all comers from the SEC and Big Ten — by using the rules the two super conferences manipulated.
With former high school football coach Joey McGuire masterfully managing elite, high-priced players form the transfer portal and assimilating them into a fight for each other West Texas mentality.
Then they all flew too close to Screw Everybody when Sorsby rode into town. And suddenly, as they say on the windswept flatlands of West Texas, “You can’t ride two horses with one ass.”
Because the higher you get on the ladder, the more your ass shows.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Texas Tech’s rise and fall after controversial Brendan Sorsby decision
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