Betting Blunders: Texas Longhorns Face NCAA Scrutiny

The Texas Longhorns have found themselves in hot water again, this time with six new NCAA violations linked to sports betting. These issues came to light recently, adding to a previous set of five violations reported late last year. It seems the rapid growth of legal betting platforms is making it tough for sports programs to stay on the right side of NCAA rules. The violations involved six individuals who placed a total of 121 bets, worth over $1, 000. Two of these bets were on games where the Longhorns were playing. Interestingly, two of the violations were connected to the softball and women's basketball programs, but the bets were placed by men, not the student-athletes themselves. One violation involved an IT staff member, and the other three were not tied to any specific sport.Out of the six individuals, three still work at the university. Two were fired immediately, and one had already left before the news broke. These violations were caught by ProhiBet, a service that checks if athletic department personnel are registered on betting or daily fantasy platforms. The Southeastern Conference has made it mandatory for its members to use this service since the 2023-24 season. Despite these issues, the violations are not expected to affect the Longhorns' upcoming Citrus Bowl game against Michigan. None of the individuals involved were student-athletes, so the focus remains on preparing for the big game. The team arrived in Orlando and will continue practicing until the matchup on New Year's Eve. For the Longhorns, this is more of a compliance issue than a problem on the field. With no players involved, the team can keep their eyes on the prize and finish the season strong. However, the athletic department as a whole may face more scrutiny in the coming days.