The NCAA is not expected to punish Cincinnati over the Brendan Sorsby gambling case, according to a Wednesday report from the Cincinnati Enquirer.
That would close off one of the possible fallout lines from a saga that has already touched Texas Tech, Cincinnati and Indiana. Sorsby, the former Cincinnati starting quarterback, drew scrutiny after reports surfaced following spring football that he had checked himself into a rehabilitation facility to treat an addiction. The issue involved large volumes of smaller wagers on Indiana football during his time with the Hoosiers.
Texas Tech had brought Sorsby in as its replacement for Behren Morton in January, then spent months trying to keep him eligible. At one point, Sorsby won a temporary injunction against the NCAA in district court, clearing him to play for the Red Raiders after serving a two-game suspension. He later chose to declare for the NFL's supplemental draft at the end of June.
Cincinnati was pulled into the investigation in July, when the NCAA sent the school a letter of inquiry asking about any knowledge of Sorsby's gambling issue. Scott Satterfield and his staff recruited Sorsby out of the NCAA transfer portal in the 2024 offseason to be their next starting quarterback, and if they had known about the gambling, the Bearcats could have been staring down serious NCAA penalties.
Those penalties could have included vacated wins, scholarship reductions or even a postseason ban. Coaches can also face multiple-game suspensions for knowingly playing a player who gambled on a game, and more severe punishment can come in the form of show-cause penalties that make it difficult for them to land another job for a long stretch.
Sorsby said he placed the majority of those bets while serving as Indiana’s backup quarterback, adding that it made him feel more connected with the game while he was on the bench.
Of the three programs tied to Sorsby, Indiana appears to be the least exposed to punishment. He transferred to Cincinnati in the 2024 offseason, the same offseason the Hoosiers moved on from head coach Tom Allen, leaving Curt Cignetti and his staff without any connection to Sorsby.
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