When Texas Tech landed Brendan Sorbsy through the transfer portal earlier this year, it really started to feel like the Red Raiders were going to be more than capable of competing for a championship this season. Not long after Texas Tech won the Big 12 and made it to the College Football Playoff, the Red Raiders were building upon their offense by landing one of the most talented available transfer quarterbacks.
Finding a quarterback through the transfer portal was necessary as Behren Morton was heading off to the NFL and backup quarterback Will Hammond was set to recover from an ACL injury. So, when Sorsby arrived, things felt great in Lubbock!
And then things felt much less great when news of gambling and related investigations popped up. Sorsby entered into an in-patient facility to get the help that he needed while on indefinite leave from the team and now the rehabilitation program is complete.
But the NCAA isn’t interested in getting Sorsby eligibility for this coming season. Instead, Texas Tech might have to turn to someone else as Sorsby’s request for reinstatement has been denied.
College football fans weigh in on the NCAA decision against Brendan Sorsby’s eligibility for Texas Tech in 2026
Here’s what fans had to say as the NCAA moved to shut down Sorsby’s college football career.
Per NYT, he placed "thousands" of bets including on his own team.
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) May 26, 2026
Noah Shannon, a starting DL at Iowa turned himself in for placing a single $5 bet on the Iowa Women's BBall team in 2023, and the NCAA ruled him ineligible for the entire 2024 season. https://t.co/CJTQz0uMJ2
A lot of folks weren’t too supportive of Sorsby in this situation here. I mean, a lot of people were happy with the decision.
Extremely rare NCAA W https://t.co/f0498lq1S9
— Jake Schwanitz (@JakeDNVR) May 26, 2026
The right decision. On no planet should Sorsby be eligible to play in the 2026 season. https://t.co/TnLmPUMFwO
— Chris Phillips (@CPhilly19) May 26, 2026
It really does seem like the supplemental draft situation is what’s next for Sorsby. I have no clue exactly how that’ll play out for him, but it does seem like that’s his best option. Of course, there is a legal battle coming up soon, but who knows how that’s going to play out.
Not exactly a shock https://t.co/ZivnUb1ofc
— CrimsonCast (@CrimsonCast) May 26, 2026
Brendan Sorsby's future is a massive NFL storyline right now. Teams will continue to monitor. https://t.co/Li4npemRG2
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) May 26, 2026
Whichever quarterback ASU faces this fall in Lubbock, it will officially not be Brenden Sorsby. https://t.co/DUsvdxEWEQ
— House of Sparky (@HouseOfSparky) May 26, 2026
Which, yeah, this isn’t ideal for Texas Tech.
Meanwhile, it looks like some folks were a little bit more understanding about the situation and decided to take up for Texas Tech (kinda).
He has never played a down for Texas Tech. He is a Cinci QB & Cinci should be punished too. https://t.co/M07UdlkKIE
— ⚔️Sidelines - UCF⚔️ (@SSN_UCF) May 26, 2026
And hey, look, if Cincinnati knew about this situation, it’ll be fascinating to see what sort of attention gets thrown their way. Sorsby was instrumental to the Bearcats over the past couple seasons and if this is something that was overlooked, that feels like a messy situation for them.
This situation isn't exactly over yet. We don't truly know just yet what will become of Sorsby or of Texas Tech's intentions to appeal the NCAA's ruling. We also don't know what's going to happen when Sorsby and the NCAA enter a courtroom to try and sort all of this out.
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