What to know about Brendan Sorsby’s situation and what’s next at Texas Tech

Texas Tech and QB Brendan Sorsby are facing uncertain futures ahead of the 2026 season. Sorsby, the key, high-profile piece of the Red Raiders’ transfer portal class, is seeking treatment for a gambling addiction, the school announced Monday.

Texas Tech announced that Sorsby would check himself into a residential treatment program after the discovery of thousands of online bets that Sorsby made via a gambling app. The discovery jeopardizes Sorsby’s eligibility.

The NCAA is investigating Sorsby’s gambling, according to sources, as the organization forbids athletes from betting on both college and pro sports while the university said in a statement that it “is committed to supporting Brendan through his recovery process and to ensure his long-term health and well-being.”

After the Red Raiders won their first Big 12 title and made the College Football Playoff with transfer QB Behren Morton, Sorsby was set to headline another playoff contender. Now that’s up in the air.

Here’s what you need to know about the situation:

What is the NCAA’s precedent on dealing with gambling-related cases involving players?

The NCAA has long forbidden student athletes from betting on college or professional sports, but faced with an evolving gambling landscape in the U.S., did update its penalties for violations in 2023. The NCAA has applied those new polices to dozens of betting cases in recent years.

The penalties range from permanent loss of eligibility to counseling, depending on the violation. Players who are found to have bet on their own games or other teams at their school can face permanent ineligibility. In 2023, for example, the NCAA ruled that former Iowa State quarterback Hunter Dekkers was permanently ineligible after finding that he had wagered on games involving the Cyclones. — David Purdum

What were/are the public gambling laws in Indiana, Ohio and Texas when Sorsby lived there?

Indiana and Ohio had legal betting markets when Sorsby attended school in those states. The legal betting age is 21 in both states. Sorsby didn’t turn 21 until January 2025, meaning he would’ve been underage while allegedly betting in Indiana and Ohio.

Texas is one of 10 states that have not legalized sports betting yet. However, daily fantasy websites and prediction markets offer alternative opportunities to risk money on sports predictions. — Purdum

Who does Texas Tech have behind Sorsby?

When backup quarterback Will Hammond suffered a torn ACL on Oct. 25 during a 42-0 win over Oklahoma State, going to the portal to recruit the best available passer became the new plan for Tech in 2026.

Texas Tech won the battle against LSU for Sorsby with the hopes that an All-Big 12 quarterback with first round NFL draft pick potential could lead the Red Raiders to a college football national championship.

Now they need Hammond to return from his right knee injury as quickly as possible. Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire told reporters this spring that the best-case scenario for Hammond would be returning in Week 3 in time for Texas Tech’s Big 12 opener against Houston on Sept. 18.

“As far as when we get him back, game-wise, we won’t let him get ahead of schedule, but he’s ahead of schedule [in rehabilitation],” McGuire told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. “And I knew he would be. He’s a different dude. But it’s still going to be Week 3 at best when you count out from when he had surgery.”

Texas Tech did bring in a third quarterback with starting experience this offseason in Tulsa transfer Kirk Francis. The junior started 12 games over his three seasons at Tulsa and threw for 3,045 yards with 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Tech also has two young backups, redshirt freshman Lloyd Jones III and true freshman Stephen Cannon, but Francis primarily took the second-team snaps in practice this spring.

Until he suffered his knee injury, Hammond was clearly poised to be the successor to Behren Morton as Texas Tech’s No. 1 QB. He filled in several times during the 2025 season while Morton battled injuries and performed well in his limited opportunities.

In Texas Tech’s Big 12 opener on the road at No. 16 Utah, Hammond replaced an injured Morton and led a 34-10 victory with 169 passing yards on 13 of 16 passing, 61 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Hammond also had to start for Morton on the road at Arizona State and produced 167 passing yards, 47 rushing yards, three TDs and one interception in a 26-22 loss. He suffered his torn ACL one week later.

Hammond brings dual-threat ability to offensive coordinator Mack Leftwich’s scheme and averaged 7.9 yards per carry on his non-sack rushes last season, according to ESPN Research. He also finished with a better QBR (73.6) on the year than Morton (66.2). McGuire and his coaching staff are highly confident in Hammond’s ability but will be patient with his ongoing rehab and recovery process after dealing with Morton’s injuries on a weekly basis last season.

“It’s crazy to say this, but Will may set every record in the history books at Texas Tech in his career,” McGuire told ESPN last season prior to the injury. — Max Olson

Could the Red Raiders sign another QB?

At this point in the year, with no spring transfer window, the Red Raiders are nearly out of options for upgrading their quarterback situation in the event Sorsby is ruled ineligible.

The NCAA’s Division I cabinet adopted a new policy earlier this month to penalize programs that attempt to circumvent its transfer portal policies after Miami and Tulane added transfers last year who never officially entered the portal.

Under the new rules, Texas Tech would be fined 20% of its football budget and McGuire would be suspended for 50% of the season if the program brings in a transfer who did not officially enter the portal in January.

There are only 15 scholarship QBs who remain unsigned from the January portal window. If Texas Tech needs one more passer to replace Sorsby, it might have to evaluate its junior college options or scour the Division II ranks.

A year ago, Texas Tech added a veteran passer with starting experience in Wake Forest transfer Mitch Griffis just to be safe. That proved to be a wise decision when Griffis ended up playing in seven games off the bench. When Griffis transferred again to compete for the starting job at East Carolina, Tech brought in Francis to be its new No. 3 option.

Texas Tech opens its season against FCS Abilene Christian followed by a road game at Oregon State, a Big 12 home opener against Houston and then one more nonconference home game against Sam Houston. If Sorsby can’t return, Francis could end up becoming Texas Tech’s opening day starter. — Olson

What are Texas Tech’s Big 12 chances without Sorsby?

There’s still a real argument for Texas Tech being Big 12 frontrunner even without Sorsby, but the conference race does feel much more wide open going forward.

In fairness to the Red Raiders, they dealt with injuries at the quarterback position all season in 2025 and still went on a 12-1 run with an average margin of victory of 30.6 points in their Big 12 wins. They can still build a high-scoring offense around its excellent trio of running backs in Cameron Dickey, J’Koby Williams and Quinten Joyner. The Red Raiders return one of the top tight ends in the country in Terrance Carter Jr. and three starters on the offensive line. Whoever plays QB for this team is going to put up points.

Texas Tech has no equal in the Big 12 when it comes to its financial investment in its roster, recruiting and transfers. The Red Raiders just had a school-record nine NFL draft picks over the weekend and replaced them with experienced and highly regarded transfers. The optimistic take would be that if this team can get nine or 10 good games out of Hammond, it should still have everything it needs to keep competing for back-to-back Big 12 titles and a College Football Playoff bid.

Still, in this year’s Big 12 race, there’s going to be plenty of competition. BYU will be right back in the mix after its 12-win season in 2025. Utah has a new head coach and must replace a lot of NFL talent from last year’s 11-win squad. Houston and Arizona are ready to keep building off breakthrough seasons and return their starting QBs, and TCU expects to be a contender this year as well. Oklahoma State has also totally flipped its roster entering Year 1 under new coach Eric Morris and should feature one of the conference’s top offenses. — Olson