'Sad day': Coaches, ADs stunned by Sorsby ruling
Key takeaways
- Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks forbid his school's teams, in a memo to staff, from playing Texas Tech, as per the document obtained by ESPN.
- It's just that was a pretty fundamental tenet of American sports, that if you're going to participate, you can't gamble, especially on your own team."
- TCU athletic director Mike Buddie and Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor both told ESPN that there's been informal chatter in the league about schools not playing Texas Tech this year.
Why this matters: a sports story that could shift standings, legacies, or fan conversations.
The reaction around college sports was nearly unanimous, with the idea of Sorsby playing in 2026 after admitting to thousands of bets on sports -- including 40 on his own team -- representing the latest crossroads for an industry that's faced a dizzying amount of them in recent years.
ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips told ESPN the ruling represents a "horrendous pattern" that is "eroding the integrity of our process." A Big 12 AD told ESPN that they are "disgusted" and added: "We officially lost our soul." TCU coach Sonny Dykes told ESPN: "How is anyone ever going to trust the outcome of a game again?"
Georgia athletic director Josh Brooks forbid his school's teams, in a memo to staff, from playing Texas Tech, as per the document obtained by ESPN. And a fellow athletic director from the SEC, Florida's Scott Stricklin, told ESPN he was "stunned," even recalling Major League Baseball's 1919 "Black Sox Scandal," when eight players from the Chicago White Sox took bribes to lose the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds.