Brendan Sorsby Update
After weeks of waiting, the NCAA has finally made their decision regarding Texas Tech Brendan Sorsby. On Wednesday, the NCAA grew a set of balls and denied Sorsby’s request for eligibility in 2026.
Of course, than denial will be appealed by Sorsby and Texas Tech, so it appears that this thing is not officially over just yet. I am not shocked at all that Sorsby wants to come back and I am not shocked that Texas Tech will denial the appeal either. However, I was a bit taken back by university president Lawrence Schovanec’s statement that he posted on Wednesday.
“Over the past month, we have given careful and deliberate thought to what is right – not only for Brendan’s recovery, but for his future as a student-athlete and a member of this community,” Schovanec wrote. “Recently, the NCAA issued an initial ruling that Brendan is permanently ineligible to compete. Texas Tech will be appealing against that decision. We believe that given the facts and the context of Brendan’s case, the NCAA’s ruling should be reversed or modified. As a generation of college athletes face the legalization and rapid proliferation of sports betting in our country, gambling addiction is rising to the point of epidemic among college aged men in particular. The NCAA’s stated mission includes “fostering [student-athletes’] lifelong well-being”, and they have claimed their goal is to promote a “culture of care” for student athletes’ mental health. Gambling addiction is a clinically recognized behavioral disorder, as defined in the DSM-5.
I know that’s a lot to take in but I wanted you to see the entire post. While I agree that gambling addiction is an issue just like alcohol or drugs would be but that doesn’t change the fact that Brendan crossed a line that you simply can’t come back from. He bet on his own team’s games and one he played in. What he did was wrong and he knew that, yet he did it anyway.
The NCAA wants to get as far away as humanly possible when it comes to players betting on their own games. It’s a bad look for the sport and unfortunately, it has happened before across college athletics. While I am glad Brendan got help, he shouldn’t be playing college football this year. In fact, he should have been caught earlier if anything. Don’t get me wrong, it sucks for Texas Tech and for the Big 12 but I agree with the NCAA’s decision.
Milan to Kentucky
This is Cyclone Fanatic after all, so it feels right to announce that Milan Momcilovic is withdrew his name to come back to school. While that seemed like great news at the time, there is a better chance for me to hit the Iowa Lottery than Milan coming back to Iowa State. Keep in mind that I live in Texas so I can’t even win the lottery there, so you get my point.
Milan is going to get paid big time at Kentucky. You can’t blame T.J. Otzelberger for not waiting for Milan because you can’t take that risk as a head coach. Plus, think about how much it would have cost Iowa State to get him to come back now.
Momcilovic is about to be paid more than what the entire 2026-2027 Iowa State team will make as a whole. Between that and waiting on a decision, it’s a dangerous game to play and T.J. didn’t want to play it. Instead, he took the safe bet and hit the transfer portal. Of course, I will thank Milan for what he has done in Ames but at the same time, if he is on another team playing Iowa State, I will not cheer him on. I wish him nothing but the best moving forward.
Baseball/Softball Update
If you are like me and enjoy college baseball then this is the perfect weekend for you to kick back, relax, grab a beer and soak in all the action. The Big 12 has two teams playing in the Super Regionals with Kansas and West Virginia. Not only are they playing but both schools will be hosting, which is exciting.
Kansas is facing Oklahoma starting on Saturday night while the Mountaineers take on Cal Poly on Friday afternoon. Both series are a best of three and the winners punch their ticket to Omaha for the College World Series.
As for softball, it’s officially over as Texas Tech lost two Texas for the second year in a row. The Longhorns have now won back-to-back national championships which disgust me more than a coworker who heats up their fish in the break room. Please for the love of all things holy, don’t be that person.
