Augsburg’s All-Time CSC (Formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-Americans:

Nora Stepan, women’s hockey (women’s at-large), 2025 (second team)

Elizabeth Fagerlind, women’s hockey/women’s golf (women’s at-large), 2025 (third team)

Charlie Stuhl, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2024 (first team)

Tyler Kim, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2024 (second team)

Payton Allen, women’s hockey (women’s at-large), 2023 (first team)

Tyler Shilson, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2023 (first team, Academic All-America of the Year)

Charlie Stuhl, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2023 (first team)

Tyler Shilson, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2022 (second team)

Daniil Gerasimov, men’s ice hockey (men’s at-large), 2021 (third team)

David Flynn, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2020 (first team)

Victor Gliva, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2020 (first team)

Brett Buckingham, men’s golf (men’s at-large), 2020 (second team)

Booker Coplin, men’s basketball, 2020 (first team)

Ashley St. Aubin, women’s soccer, 2019 (second team)

Booker Coplin, men’s basketball, 2019 (second team)

Christopher Lemke, football, 2018 (first team)

Ashley St. Aubin, women’s soccer, 2018 (second team)

Nate Flynn, men’s ice hockey (men’s at-large), 2018 (first team)

Victor Gliva, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2018 (first team)

Sam Bennyhoff, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2018 (second team)

Christopher Lemke, football, 2017 (first team)

Nate Flynn, men’s ice hockey (men’s at-large), 2017 (second team)

Mary Cornelius, women’s track and field/cross country, 2016 (third team)

Erika Allen, women’s ice hockey (women’s at-large), 2016 (second team)

Zach Swingen, football, 2015 (first team)

Chris DeVet, football, 2014 (first team)

Zach Swingen, football, 2014 (second team)

Lauren Rice, women’s track and field/cross country, 2014 (first team)

Elianna Bier, women’s swimming and diving (women’s at-large), 2014 (second team)

Chad Thompson, football, 2013 (second team)

Chris DeVet, football, 2013 (second team)

Bri Dorale, softball, 2013 (first team)

Chad Thompson, football, 2012 (first team)

Tony Valek, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2012 (first team)

Tony Valek, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2011 (first team)

Alex Hildebrandt, men’s soccer, 2009 (second team)

Alex Hildebrandt, men’s soccer, 2008 (third team)

Nick Manders, men’s soccer, 2007 (second team)

Andrew Neumann, football, 2006 (second team)

Ryan Valek, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2006 (first team)

Riley Conway, men’s track and field/cross country, 2005 (second team)

Mark Matzek, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2005 (first team)

Ryan Valek, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2005 (third team)

Darren Ginther, baseball, 2005 (first team)

Brent Peroutka, football, 2001 (second team)

Josh Cagle, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2000 (first team)

Brian Jones, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 2000 (second team)

Josh Cagle, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 1999 (second team)

Jim Peterson, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 1999 (second team)

Scott Hvistendahl, football, 1998 (second team)

Ted Schultz, football, 1997 (first team)

Scott Hvistendahl, football, 1997 (second team)

Dan Lewandowski, men’s wrestling (men’s at-large), 1997 (second team)

Andrea Haight, softball, 1991 (second team)

Karen Sterner, track and field (women’s at-large), 1987 (second team)

Karen Sterner, track and field (women’s at-large), 1986 (first team)

Paul Elliot, football, 1981 (only one team selected)

ESPN and the BIG EAST have struck their first media rights agreement since the current version of the conference launched in 2013. Plus: contract news on Dan Orlovsky and James Brown; a new deal for the PBR.

ESPN, BIG EAST, restart relationship with streaming deal

ESPN and the BIG EAST on Tuesday announced a six-year digital rights deal in which at least 300 events per year will air on the ESPN+ streaming service. The deal, the first between ESPN and the BIG EAST since the current iteration of the conference began in 2013, includes a minimum of 25 men’s (non-conference) basketball games, 75 women’s basketball games and 200 Olympic sporting events.

BIG EAST games previously streamed on FloSports.

The ESPN agreement is in addition to the new rights deals the conference signed with NBC Sports, TNT Sports and incumbent Fox Sports.

ESPN, Orlovsky, reportedly agree to deal; CBS host Brown in extension talks

ESPN and NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky have agreed to terms on a new contract, though the agreement is not yet final, according to Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports. Orlovsky, who has been with ESPN since 2018, will continue in his current roles.

McCarthy also reported Monday that CBS and NFL Today host James Brown have begun discussions on a contract extension. Brown, who at 74 is the eldest of the major sports studio show hosts, reportedly “has no plans to retire.” He has hosted one of the major NFL pregame shows continuously since leaving CBS for FOX in 1994, including “NFL Today” since beginning his second CBS stint in 2006.

PBR reaches Fox Nation deal

Professional Bull Riders has reached a deal with the Fox streaming service Fox Nation to carry Friday night events in its Camping World Team Series, it was announced Tuesday. Under the deal, “PBR Friday Night Live” will air on the streamer for ten weeks through the first night of the championship series October 24.

The rights previously belonged to Merit Street Media — the Phil McGraw venture that filed for bankruptcy last week — but PBR terminated that deal in November alleging breach of contract for failure to pay rights fees.

The PBR deal marks the first live sports content on the Fox Nation service.

Penn State hockey officially landed prized prospect Gavin McKenna on Tuesday when he made his college choice live on ESPN’s ‘SportsCenter.’ The third-youngest skater to ever win the CHL Player of the Year award (only Penguins’ legend Sydney Crosby and Toronto Maple Leafs star John Tavares have him beat on that list) is coming to play college hockey thanks to a new rule that allows CHL players to do so for the first time during the 2025-2026 season. Michigan State was reportedly one of his other finalists. What led the Lions to win out in the end?

“It was a super tough decision,” McKeena told ESPN. Obviously, there’s a lot of great options out there. But I think me and my family and everyone kind of part of my circle, we all decided on the best spot for me next year will be Penn State University. I think Penn State is a great spot for me. I got to kind of get a taste of what it’s like there, and got to bring along my dad, and we both thought it was a great spot for me.

McKenna is expected to play just one season in State College. The Canadian joins head coach Guy Gadowsky’s team at a time when the Lions are listed as the early favorite to win next year’s Frozen Four, according to odds posted by DraftKings this week. That’s in large part due to landing McKenna. Still, the Lions also have this year’s No. 14 overall NHL Draft pick, freshman defenseman Jackson Smith. They also have the No. 49 overall selection in this year’s pro selection process, sophomore forward Charlie Cerrato, among others.

More: See more Penn State hockey coverage from Blue-White Illustrated here

“I think the main goal is obviously to win a championship,” McKenna said. “I think you kind of saw what Penn State did this year, making it to the Frozen Four. They’ve come a long ways. And I think next year, when I go there, obviously, that’s the goal, is to win a championship.”

Considered a generational talent, McKenna is projected as the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and is widely regarded as the top up-and-coming talent in the sport.

“I think it honestly, just makes the jump easier,” McKenna said of going to college instead of playing one more year in juniors. “You know, going against older, heavier, stronger guys, I think it really prepares you. And I think even in the locker room, you know, hanging around older guys and being around more mature guys, I think that’ll help me a lot in my first season.

“I think both options are great, but I just think that’s going to college. And, being in such a great conference, it’ll really challenge me and prepare me.”

Penn State will open its 2025-2026 season with two games in three days at Arizona State Oct. 3-5. The rest of the Lions’ schedule has not been announced yet.

Associated Press

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — There are no official Big 12 predictions going into this season, so there will be no last-to-first narrative like what Arizona State had in its league debut.

Going into its 30th football season, the Big 12 didn’t conduct a preseason media poll predicting the order of finish for the 16-team conference. The results were way off last year.

“I try to ignore it as best I can,” Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said Tuesday at Big 12 media days. “It’s one of the reasons we as coaches did not do a coaches poll because I think the narrative has really hurt our league. I know it hurt Arizona State and I know it hurt BYU last year.”

Arizona State won the Big 12 championship game last season after being picked to finish at the bottom of the Big 12 standings. The Sun Devils were in a four-way tie for first place in the regular-season standings, beat Iowa State in the title game and were the only league team to make the College Football Playoff.

Sun Devils coach Kenny Dillingham said he couldn’t care less about any of the predictions last year, or what anybody might have guessed for this season. They do have back quarterback Sam Leavitt, who was picked as the league’s preseason offensive player of the year since media still voted on a preseason All-Big 12 team.

“I don’t really care where people put us. Vote us first, vote us last, vote us in the middle. If we’re so focused on other people’s expectations of us, then you’re going to limit yourself,” Dillingham said Tuesday. “Who knows? Are we supposed to win six games? Are we supposed to win nine games? Are we supposed to go undefeated? Are we supposed to win zero? … All I know is when we show up to work, we should be the very best version of ourselves. And if we compete in something, you better compete to win.”

BYU was picked to finish 13th in the Big 12, and was part of that four-way tie at the end of the regular season with 7-2 conference records. The Cougars finished 11-2 overall, including a 9-0 start in which they had an early win over ACC newcomer SMU, which made the 12-team playoff field even after losing its conference championship game.

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said there’s no value to such preseason football polls, especially with the ever-changing landscape in the game these days. He felt Arizona State was disadvantaged because of being picked 16th long before even playing its first game.

“With the transfer portal and with roster management and what goes on as you build that roster, no one knows what they really have. They know what they have on paper, but it hasn’t played out,” Yormark said. “And that was the case with Arizona State last year. So I don’t know if it’s a trend or not but certainly it’s the right thing for the Big 12 and I’m glad we did it.”

The Big Ten Conference has long forgone doing preseason polls.

Arizona State went into the Big 12 title game last December at 15th in the CFP rankings, behind three SEC teams with three losses and Mountain West Conference champion Boise State. The Sun Devils were then 12th in the final CFP rankings, but got a first-round bye as one of the top four-ranked conference champions before the format changed for this season to more-direct seeding.

A series of tiebreakers had put Arizona State and Iowa State in the Big 12 title game, and eliminated BYU and Colorado from title contention.

Utah, which like Arizona State made its Big 12 debut last year, was the preseason favorite to win the league. The Utes won all three of their non-conference games, but went 2-7 otherwise to finish near the bottom of the Big 12 standings.

Oklahoma State was last after going 0-9 in conference play. The Cowboys had been picked third.

Global stages

The Big 12 season will open Aug. 23 with Kansas State playing Iowa State in Ireland. TCU will play its 2026 season opener there against North Carolina.

“I’ve been on the record to say that I want this conference to be a global conference,” said Yormark, who is going into his fourth year as Big 12 commissioner. “I think we can win globally big time. Playing in Ireland obviously is that first step.”

Football isn’t the league’s only sport going international for a league in which Yormark said 11% of the student-athletes are from outside the United States.

“Just from a recruitment standpoint, it makes sense to carry that flag outside of the domestic marketplace,” he said.

Baylor’s women’s basketball team will open the upcoming season in Paris. Yormark said there is a good chance of a baseball game in Mexico City next spring, and that there are conversations about events in other international markets, like Germany.

___

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Welcome back to “On the Air,” in which Sports Media Watch Podcast co-host Armand Broady will offer in-depth breakdowns of broadcasters’ on-air performance and career journeys, plus chronicle broader trends in the industry.

What do former SportsCenter anchor John Anderson and Hall-of-Fame pitcher CC Sabathia have to do with Brian Anderson becoming the voice of TNT Sports? As Brian tells it, quite a bit.

It was 2008 and Sabathia’s Milwaukee Brewers were on their way to clinching the franchise’s first playoff berth since 1982. Brian was the team’s TV play-by-play voice while John, a Wisconsin native, kept a watchful eye on the Brewers while doing SportsCenter highlights.

“All of a sudden, Brewers games are on SportsCenter every night and this SportsCenter anchor starts rolling in the sound of me calling these moments,” Brian recalled last year on “The Inside Wisconsin Show,” which John (no relation) co-hosts. “My phone blows up. I said was John Anderson anchoring? Yes. I was like there you go.”

The Brewers’ Wild Card run led to Brian getting a call from TNT Sports executives. In October of that year, he called the Brewers-Phillies National League Division Series for TBS. He has been with the company ever since, covering some of the most significant events in recent sports history.

Anderson was at the TBS microphone in 2010 when Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay threw a no-hitter in game 1 of the NLDS vs. the Reds. He was there in 2018 when then-Red Sox infielder Brock Holt became the first player in MLB history to hit for the cycle in a postseason game. Atlanta Braves fans still remember Anderson’s spirited calls of their 2021 NLCS triumph over the Dodgers.

Anderson was courtside when Warriors G Steph Curry broke the NBA record for career three-point field goals in 2021. He was also on the call in 2023 when LeBron James became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

Just last month, Anderson was present for another consequential event, when Carlos Alcaraz defeated Jannik Sinner in a five-set classic to win his second straight Roland-Garros Men’s Final.

Brian Anderson has become to TNT Sports what Mike Tirico is to NBC. He is the network’s trusted lead voice, present at seemingly every major occurrence.

On the surface, Anderson’s rise to the top seems at least somewhat unlikely. He isn’t the son of a broadcast legend like Kenny Albert or Joe Buck. His voice doesn’t thunder like that of a Kevin Harlan or Sean McDonough. He is not a sentimental storyteller like Jim Nantz and he doesn’t exude charisma the way Ian Eagle does.

Anderson’s most winsome trait is his “everyman” temperament. Despite the occasional error — like his missed call of a buzzer-beating shot in the 2019 Purdue-Virginia Elite Eight game — Anderson is well-liked because of his authenticity. One gets the sense that he genuinely enjoys every event he covers and feels privileged to be there.

That unique quality has lifted Anderson to the heights of the industry. And at just 54 years old, his future is promising. Despite losing the NBA, he will continue calling the biggest MLB games for TNT Sports, as well as college basketball regular season and tournament action, plus championship tennis.

Some good fortune may have gotten him his big break, but Anderson’s versatility, passion and enthusiasm figure to keep him on the upper tier of sports broadcasting for many years to come.

Plus: ESPN should invest in Mike Monaco

At just 32 years old, Mike Monaco is already one of ESPN’s most valuable play-by-play announcers. There is no sport he can’t call. Since joining the network in 2019, he has worked MLB, NHL, volleyball, lacrosse, football, softball, the Little League World Series and College World Series.

His most memorable call came in 2022, when Ole Miss took down Oklahoma to win the CWS: “From last four in to last team standing, Ole Miss has won the College World Series!”

Now, he is currently a part of ESPN’s coverage of Wimbledon.

In recent years, ESPN has missed on opportunities to hold on to young play-by-play announcers. At one time, Adam Amin, Jason Benetti and Joe Davis, — three of the industry’s best — worked for ESPN. All three have since left for Fox, and their respective profiles have only grown. Amin, 38, is the network’s #2 MLB announcer; Benetti, 41, is their #2 college football announcer; the Emmy-winning Davis, 37, is the voice of the World Series.

Talent as versatile as Monaco does not come around often. ESPN should learn from prior mistakes and keep him around. He is good enough now to supplant Karl Ravech as the voice of the CWS.