Sports betting problems are as old as sports themselves, and college athletics has been no stranger.
The recent news that Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby will enter a rehab facility for a gambling addiction comes on the heels of a massive betting scandal across college basketball that featured numerous players allegedly attempting to influence outcomes.
NCAA president Charlie Baker has tried to adapt the organization’s sports betting penalties to the current times. Those changes have remained fluid. Here’s where the rules currently stand.
What are the NCAA’s current rules?
For most of college sports history, sports betting of any kind was banned and heavily punished. In 2022, Virginia Tech linebacker Alan Tisdale was initially suspended for nine games for betting around $400 on the NBA Finals. It was reduced to six games upon appeal.
But in 2023, the Division I Council approved new reinstatement guidelines meant to reduce the penalties for certain kinds of gambling. Under those 2023 guidelines, any player who wagers on their own games or on other sports at their own school will potentially face permanent loss of eligibility in all sports. The same applies if a player engages in activities to influence the outcome of their own games or knowingly provides information to people in sports betting.
If a player wagers on their own sport at another school, the player could lose 50 percent of one season of eligibility. They must also receive education on sports wagering rules and prevention.
For all other betting violations, such as pro sports, it depends on the cumulative amount of money wagered:
- $200 or less: Only further education is required
- $201 to $500: Loss of 10 percent of a season, plus further education
- $501 to $800: Loss of 30 percent of a season, plus further education
- More than $800: NCAA reinstatement staff will consider whether further loss of eligibility is appropriate, including potentially permanent ineligibility.
Attempted rule change in 2025
In October 2025, the Division I Administration Committee approved a new rule to allow players and staff to bet on pro sports. The Division II and Division III management committees also followed.
The rule was set to go into effect on Nov. 1, but it was met with backlash and squashed. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey sent a letter to Baker asking for a reversal. The implementation was delayed, followed by a vote of more than two-thirds of the 365 Division I schools, which rescinded the rule.
“Because sports betting rules are common legislation, the ban on all forms of betting — for sports in which the NCAA sponsors a championship — will remain in place for all three NCAA divisions,” the NCAA said in a statement.
Recent issues in college sports
Like other sports, more college sports betting scandals have popped up recently with the growing legalization of sports betting in numerous states.
In 2023, at least 30 Iowa and Iowa State athletes were implicated in sports betting of various degrees as part of a legal probe, with 16 facing charges and many losing NCAA eligibility. Misdemeanor charges landed minor plea deals for underage gambling, but felony charges were later dismissed as it was determined that the state’s search with geolocating tools was unconstitutional. A lawsuit filed by those athletes against the investigators was dismissed last fall over qualified immunity.
In January, 20 active and former college basketball players were charged in a federal indictment around a sports gambling scandal. Some of the players had already been banned by the NCAA for not cooperating in its gambling investigation, but some had not been previously known.
Now, Sorsby has become the most high-profile college athlete caught up in a sports gambling situation.
“Due to confidentiality rules put in place by NCAA member schools, the NCAA will not comment on current, pending or potential investigations,” an NCAA spokesperson said in a statement. “However, the NCAA takes sports betting very seriously and is committed to the protection of student-athlete well-being and the integrity of competition. The Association works with integrity monitoring services, state regulators and other stakeholders to conduct appropriate due diligence whenever reports are received.”