Paul Finebaum Slams NCAA Over Brendan Sorsby Eligibility Decision

The NCAA denied Texas Tech QB Brendan Sorsby's eligibility reinstatement after his gambling addiction and completed rehab, and Paul Finebaum went straight at the governing body live on ESPN.

Oct 5, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; SEC Nation analyst Paul Finebaum looks on prior to the game between the Texas A&M Aggies and the Missouri Tigers at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images. | Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images

Brendan Sorsby was one of the most electric quarterbacks to enter the transfer portal this offseason, arriving in Lubbock from Cincinnati as a five-star transfer with Texas Tech immediately emerging as one of the favorites to win the Big 12.

Then the bottom fell out.

Sorsby was revealed to be under NCAA investigation for making thousands of online bets via a gambling app. He took an indefinite leave from the program to enter inpatient treatment for gambling addiction, with reports indicating he allegedly wagered on collegiate sporting events, including games during his time at Indiana.

Last week, Sorsby completed an inpatient gambling addiction treatment program in Arizona and was preparing to return to campus.

Texas Tech football player Brendan Sorsby reacts to a play during a Big 12 Conference men's basketball game, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in United Supermarkets Arena. | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As a result, University president Lawrence Schovanec wrote to the Texas Tech community calling for the ruling to be reversed, noting that gambling addiction is "rising to the point of epidemic among college-aged men in particular."

The NCAA, however, denied the reinstatement petition, citing precedent: NCAA rules state that betting on one's own team results in "permanent loss of eligibility."

After spending his first two years at Indiana and then two more at Cincinnati, Sorsby has just one year of eligibility remaining. His legal team had offered to accept a two-game suspension in exchange for reinstatement, which, too, was denied.

Sorsby has now filed for a temporary injunction in Lubbock County District Court, arguing the NCAA's position is "deeply hypocritical" and represents a "wholesale abandonment of its obligations and duties to promote the well-being" of student-athletes.

And now, one of the most powerful voices in college football has joined in calling out the NCAA.

Paul Finebaum didn't hold back Wednesday morning on ESPN's "Get Up," ripping into the NCAA after the governing body denied Texas Tech's petition to reinstate Sorsby's eligibility for the 2026 season.

"I think he should have been suspended for a couple of games, but to keep him out for the whole season, I think, is wrong," Finebaum said on Wednesday.

"And while what he did on paper is terrible, we're talking about the NCAA, the most hypocritical organization in the history of mankind, coming down on somebody for gambling while they have their own side gambling deals and while gambling is pervasive everywhere."

Texas Tech's Brendan Sorsby goes through warmups before the spring football game, Friday, April 17, 2026, at Jones AT&T Stadium. | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The NCAA spent years fighting the legalization of sports betting in the U.S., keeping its distance from operators after coming to an agreement in 2018, and even hid gambling advertising during the 2022 men's Final Four at Caesars Superdome.

But in April 2025, they quietly reversed course, announcing a deal with Genius Sports to sell official NCAA championship event data directly to sportsbooks around the country.

The governing body is now monetizing the very thing it's permanently banning kids for doing.

The NCAA said the deal was "not an endorsement of legal sports betting" and would use revenue to fund problem gambling education, but that hasn't stopped criticism from rolling in.

Dec 7, 2024; Atlanta, GA, USA; ESPN announcer Paul Finebaum before the 2024 SEC Championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

The wave of gambling suspensions across college football in recent years, from Iowa to Alabama to Georgia, has exposed just how unprepared the NCAA was for the post-legalization era.

As Schovanec noted, the NCAA's own stated mission includes the "lifelong well-being" of athletes and a "culture of care" for mental health, words that feel especially hollow when the organization is stripping a player's eligibility after he voluntarily entered rehab and completed treatment.

Short-term, this is devastating for Sorsby. At stake is the multimillion-dollar NIL deal he signed with Texas Tech for what was supposed to be his final season of college football.

Long-term, this case could completely change how the NCAA handles gambling violations in the age of legalized betting, especially with a court date looming and high-profile attorneys on Sorsby's side.

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