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Arizona has been the villain before.
It wasn’t all that long ago when the men’s basketball program and its leader, Sean Miller, was the target of national scorn and anger. Rumors and reports of Miller and the program paying players led to people looking at the Wildcats and their coach differently, and road games had a different feeling given some of the heckling that was heard and signs that were seen.
Now did Miller or the players deserve it? That’s not for me to say.
But it happened, and it led to a fairly uncomfortable situation for the team and school.
Ultimately the season didn’t go particularly well, ending with a first-round tournament exit and the deconstruction of what had been a pretty well-oiled basketball machine up to that point. The effects of the scandal (allegedly, anyway) were felt for years after, although fortunately for all of us the program was able to move on.
Nearly 10 years later it’s not Arizona men’s basketball that is getting unwanted negative attention but instead Big 12 Conference rival Texas Tech, in football. Having failed to purchase a national championship last season, the Red Raiders again ponied up and shopped in the transfer portal, betting their season on former Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby.
A talented passer who Arizona picked off twice and beat last season, the dual-threat QB certainly seems like the type of player who could get Tech where it wants to be.
Assuming he actually steps onto the field which, for better or worse, is something the school seems to be in favor of allowing to happen. A probably biased judge certainly is.
That any of this has happened should come as little surprise, especially in the world of college sports circa 2026.
Back in 2017 when Arizona hoops was caught up in a scandal the world was a different place. Whereas the Cats and their coach were the subject of stories, narratives and taunts, no one proposed or threatened to boycott Arizona. If the Cats were on the schedule, you played them.
The situation surrounding Sorsby and Tech is altogether different. What he’s admitted to doing—betting on college sports, including on his own team—is altogether new, and the way people view college sports and the athletes is not at all the same. Almost immediately from the time he was ruled eligible to play by the judge there were quotes from around the country from people and sources saying schools should not play Texas Tech. That if they were on the schedule, that game would not happen.
Arizona just so happens to have an Oct. 31 game scheduled in Lubbock.
Now, it’s worth pointing out that if Texas Tech was expected to be as good (or bad) as, say, Iowa State, West Virginia or Colorado there probably wouldn’t be too many angling to not play them. After all it’s easy to take the moral high ground when it could benefit your W/L record.
It’s hard to imagine the Wildcats being favored to go on the road and beat the 2025 conference champs who are once again expected to lead the way. Their chances would be marginally better, you’d think, if a QB other than Sorsby was on the field. But even then, most will pencil that game in as a loss.
Now, removing Tech from the schedule would be pretty easy to explain. Arizona (or any other school) could claim that they do not approve of how the school is handling their player’s problem and do not want to contribute to harming a student athlete’s wellbeing. It could also be a bit of a protest to stand behind the NCAA, whose punishment was overruled by the judge, with the angle that it’s all about unity in a time where the very idea of collegiate athletics where every school and league is governed under the same set of rules is in peril.
Sure.
For all the talk about teams possibly removing Tech from their schedule, I sincerely hope Arizona is not even considering the move. Will Arizona beat them? Probably not.
But what a win it would be.
For a program like Arizona, the chance to play and beat ranked teams is something to be excited about. They are a way to not only excite the fans, but validate what is happening in Tucson.
Last year’s team had won six games and become bowl-eligible but it wasn’t until the next week when it went on the road and beat a ranked Cincinnati where it truly felt like the Cats were for real. A victory over Arizona State, also on the road, was incredibly satisfying.
Understanding that neither of those wins would hold a candle to beating a Sorsby-led Tech on the road, it’s high-profile matchups that get the eyes of the nation on your program. If the Cats are once again a good team next year then that game at the end of October could carry with it some additional meaning and stakes.
What fun!
Clearly Texas Tech has no problem being the team everyone hates, with a slew of statements and even a video that most people shouldn’t have had time to watch trying to explain how they are doing nothing wrong with regards to their player, the sport or the NCAA. Nobody with any sense really buys it, as we all know what they really care about is winning games and making money. The athletic department feels (rightfully so) that Sorsby provides a better opportunity to do both, and that’s why they are willing to go down this path.
Maybe it works out for them. There’s a good chance it won’t. But as we sit here in mid-June, we should hope that when the calendar reaches the end of October Arizona does its part in making this a season Tech will want to forget.
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