Projected 2026 No. 1 overall NHL draft pick Gavin McKenna headlines a big group of Canadian hockey stars choosing to play college hockey next season — and he’s reportedly committed to Penn State for 2025-26.

The Nittany Lions are fresh off their first Frozen Four appearance in 2025, but one of the sport’s top prospects choosing to play for a program that’s younger than him certainly raises eyebrows. Were the Gophers even in the mix?

As of July 8, the Gophers have 24 players projected to be on their 2025-26 roster, none of whom come from the CHL (Canadian Hockey League) ranks. That’s an anomaly compared to their Big Ten rivals, all of whom have reportedly added at least one player from Canada’s top junior league.

Is it a money thing? We don’t have those answers, but McKenna will reportedly make around $700,000 to play for Penn State next season. Michigan State reportedly offered $200,000 to $300,000 as the other finalist in McKenna’s recruitment. Did the Gophers make him an offer?

There were plenty of rumors about McKenna’s college hockey future, but Minnesota not even being mentioned is baffling. The Gophers are a college hockey blue blood, making McKenna’s decision feel analogous to Luka Dončić wanting to play a year of college hoops without Duke or Kentucky being considered.

McKenna instantly makes Penn State the favorite to win the Big Ten next season, less than 15 years after the program turned Division I in 2012-13. Should the Gophers be concerned they’re getting lapped by programs with far less history and cachet?

In the short term, probably not. Minnesota just had five players selected in last month’s NHL Draft, and they’ll still be among the most talented teams in college hockey next season. But they’re no longer getting their pick of the litter in recruiting.

Penn State landing McKenna just months after its Frozen Four run signals they’ve officially arrived as a national power. Minnesota can no longer lean solely on tradition and a strong developmental track record when competing for the best players.

Did the Gophers even try to recruit McKenna? If the answer is no, that might be the bigger issue. At the end of the day, college sports have become a talent acquisition business, and programs around the country are getting creative with how they build rosters.

This isn’t a reason to panic in Minnesota, but it’s absolutely a reason to raise eyebrows — and maybe a warning sign that it’s going to cost significant money to lure the best talent in the future.

HANOVER, N.H. – The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) announced that both the Dartmouth men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams have been named to the Scholar All-America team for the Spring 2025 semester.
 
The Big Green programs are two of 763 teams from 432 institutions to be recognized by the CSCAA. To receive the honor, teams must achieve a grade point average of 3.0 or higher during the Spring 2025 semester.
 
In addition, there were seven total individual Big Green swimmers and divers from the men’s and women’s teams who received the honor of Individual Scholar All-America. To qualify, the student-athletes must earn a 3.5 grade point average in the classroom while also meeting a “B” standard time in a swim event or qualify for Diving Zones in a diving event.
 
From the women’s side, Alyssa Palacios, Klara Johnsson Stjernström and Maggie Lambdin were recognized. Meanwhile on the men’s side, Aryeh Lesch, Everett Tai, Jacob Turner and McCoy Lyman were honored. All seven were named to the Second Team.
 

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark is doubling down on his preference to stay with only five automatic qualifiers if the College Football Playoff does expand from 12 to 16 teams as many expect after this season, instead of each of the four power conferences being guaranteed multiple bids.

“We have the responsibility to do what’s right for college football … not what’s right for one or two or more conferences,” Yormark said Tuesday at Big 12 football media days. “I think 5-11 is fair. Earn it on the field, assuming we want to expand. I love the current format, but if we’re going to expand, let’s do it in a way that’s fair and equitable and gives everyone a chance.”

While the SEC and Big Ten will have more of a say on the playoff format starting in 2026, when ESPN’s $7.8 billion contract kicks in, Yormark believes the 5-11 format would be good for now and in the future. He said ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips feels the same way, and is expected to express that during his league’s media days in two weeks.

“We do not need a professional model because we are not the NFL,” Yormark said. “We are college football and we must act like it.”

In the 12-team format still in place for this season, the five highest-ranked conference champions are guaranteed spots in the playoff. The difference this year is that the top four highest-ranked champions are no longer guaranteed the top four seeds that come with first-round byes.

Among potential 16-team formats would be four automatic qualifiers from both the SEC and Big Ten, and two each for the Big 12 and ACC. The Big 12 last season had only conference champion Arizona State make the playoff last season.

[Related: How 2024-25 CFP Would’ve Looked Under Proposed Expansion Formats]

“We want to earn it on the field,” Yormark said. “It might not be the best solution today for the Big 12, given your comments about (automatic qualifiers), but long term, knowing the progress we’re making, the investments we’re making, it’s the right format for us.”

Yormark, who is going into his fourth year as Big 12 commissioner, believes that the landmark NCAA House settlement will have a positive impact for all conferences, especially if the College Sports Commission works the way it is intended in enforcing the rules in the remade system.

“It will. I have a lot of faith in Bryan Seely,” Yormark said of the former Major League Baseball executive named CEO of the new CSC. “It should create a level playing field, and I’m not giving that up.”

The Big 12 was already in transition and still at 10 teams when Yormark arrived in 2022. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF joined the league the following year.

Texas and Oklahoma, who won football national championships while in the Big 12, completed their long-planned move to the SEC last year. That is when Pac-12 schools Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah came into what is now a 16-team Big 12.

“I think parity matters, and I think ultimately over time, and that’s hopefully sooner than later, there’ll be a couple of our schools that will emerge, you know, as elite schools that are always part of the conversations at the highest levels. And that’s what we’re working towards,” Yormark said. “But it starts with parity and being competitive top to bottom. And I think we’re there.”

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Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark is “doubling down” on his support for a new College Football Playoff format dubbed the “5+11” model.

The Big 12 and ACC have pushed the model, which would award automatic bids to the five highest-ranked conference champions, and 11 at-large bids determined by the CFP selection committee. The Big Ten, however, has put more focus on a format that would award four automatic bids to Big Ten and SEC teams, and two to the Big 12 and ACC.

About a month after Utah athletic director Mark Harlan voiced his support for the 5+11 postseason model, Yormark reiterated where the Big 12 stands during the league’s media days in Orlando, Florida, this week.

“We continue to believe the 5+11 model proposed by the Big 12 and the ACC is the right playoff format for college football,” Yormark said. “We want to earn it on the field.”

“We do not need a professional model, because we are not the NFL,” Yormark said. “We are college football, and we must act like it.”

According to the latest projections from ESPN FPI, only one Big 12 team — Kansas State — has greater than a 22% chance of making the 12-team CFP next season. Yormark, though, expects the league to exceed expectations in 2025-26.

“I fully expect the Big 12 to earn multiple playoff bids this year and show once again, we can compete with anyone,” Yormark said.

The Big 12 comes off a 2024-25 campaign in which it struggled against the SEC and Big Ten, the two conferences that hold authority over any future postseason format. The Big 12 went 2-5 overall against the SEC, with its two victories coming over 2-10 Mississippi State and 7-6 Arkansas. Big 10 foes went 3-1 against the Big 12 in the regular season, though Kansas State earned the Big 12 a victory over the Big 10 in the postseason by taking down Rutgers, 44-41, in the Rate Bowl.

The Utes open their 2025 campaign against a Big Ten opponent on Aug. 30, when they take on UCLA at the Rose Bowl.

MORE UTAH NEWS & ANALYSIS

Youngstown, Ohio — Youngstown State bowling alumni Madyson Marx and Kirsten Moore each added one more tremendous accomplishment to their historic careers by earning Academic All-America status on the 2025 at-large teams. The teams were selected by members of College Sports Communicators and announced Tuesday.

Marx earned second-team accolades on the prestigious list, while Moore was voted to the third team. The fifth-year seniors in 2024-25 are the 23rd and 24th student-athletes in Youngstown State history to earn Academic All-America status, and they are the first Penguins to receive the honor since their former teammate Sarah Florence, a second-team selection in 2021. They are also the first teammates in program history to earn Academic All-America honors in the same year.

The Academic All-America program celebrates student-athletes’ accomplishments in athletics and academics. It recognizes at-large honorees in four divisions – NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III and NAIA – in the sports of women’s beach volleyball, women’s bowling, women’s crew/rowing, men’s and women’s fencing, women’s field hockey, men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s ice hockey, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s and women’s rifle, men’s and women’s skiing, men’s volleyball, men’s and women’s water polo, and men’s wrestling.

Marx adds another honor following the conclusion of her collegiate career, building on her selection as Conference USA’s Bowling Scholar-Athlete of the Year in June. She was named an All-American by the National Tenpin Coaches Association in each of her final three seasons, including first-team honors in 2024-25. A native of Maplewood, Minnesota, Marx was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Final Four after averaging a team-best 22.54 pins per frame and helping the Penguins win the national championship.

Academically, Marx was an Academic All-District selection by CSC in each of her final three seasons, and she was a two-time recipient of the Conference USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal. She was also named to the Conference USA All-Academic Team in 2024 and was a three-time All-Academic Team selection in the Southland Bowling League. Marx graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in May 2024.

Moore was an NTCA All-American in 2022-23 and 2023-24, and she ranked second on YSU’s national title team in total frames in 2024-25. She was selected as the NCAA Elite 90 Award winner for the second straight season in 2024-25 for having the highest GPA at the finals site. She averaged 23.51 pins per frame in Baker play at the Final Four, the second-best average for a tournament in program history. She finished her career with the most tournament wins in school history (three) and also set program career records for matches bowled and total pinfall.

Moore, a native of Tallmadge, Ohio, is a three-time Academic All-District selection by CSC and a two-time member of the Conference USA All-Academic Team. She was also a three-time Southland Bowling League All-Academic selection and a two-time recipient of the Conference USA Commissioner’s Academic Medal. She graduated summa cum laude with her bachelor’s degree in English in 2023 and completed her master’s degree in English in May.

Gavin McKenna will be the prize in the 2026 NHL Draft, the 17-year-old forward already considered a future superstar.

But another sweepstakes winner will be determined Tuesday when McKenna announces his NCAA commitment on ESPN’s 6 p.m. ET edition of “SportsCenter.”

It is believed McKenna will choose between Michigan State and Penn State, each Big Ten school hoping to land the generational talent.

“McKenna is in a special category that you only come across every few years,” NHL Central Scouting vice president and director Dan Marr said. “His offensive instincts and playmaking game are truly exceptional and it’s his composure, compete and maturity that really sell you on his talent.”

McKenna (5-foot-11, 162 pounds) has been compared to two NHL greats who are small in stature.

“His game resembles the likes of Patrick Kane and Doug Gilmour, who both had slight builds and were able to utilize their talents to produce and use those same smarts and wits to protect themselves from hockey’s physical elements,” Marr said.

This will be the first season Canadian Hockey League players are eligible to play NCAA hockey after a rule change last year. Previously they had been considered professionals because some CHL players had signed NHL entry-level contracts.

McKenna was second in the Western Hockey League last season with 129 points (41 goals, 88 assists) in 56 games with Medicine Hat, and was third in the WHL playoffs with 38 points (nine goals, 29 assists) in 16 games to help Medicine Hat reach the Memorial Cup, the four-team CHL championship tournament.

He was third in scoring at the Memorial Cup with six points (three goals, three assists) in four games as Medicine Hat lost 4-1 to London in the championship game. McKenna scored his team’s only goal.

He won the Four Broncos Trophy as WHL Player of the Year and the CHL David Branch Player of the Year Award.

McKenna is the third-youngest player to win CHL player of the year award, after John Tavares (2006-07) and Sidney Crosby (2003-04), each of whom was 16 at the time.

He had a modern WHL-record 40-game regular-season point streak (100 points; 32 goals, 68 assists) that extended to 54 games (137 points; 40 goals; 97 assists) in the playoffs to set a modern CHL record (since 2000) for points in consecutive games (regular season, playoffs, Memorial Cup).

Penn State (22-14-4) reached the Frozen Four for the first time in program history last season after defeating Connecticut 3-2 in overtime to win its regional final. It lost 3-1 to Boston University in the national semifinals.

Defenseman Jackson Smith, selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets with the No. 14 pick of the 2025 NHL Draft, will play at Penn State this season. Among the returning players is expected to be forward Charlie Cerrato, who was second on the team with 42 points (15 goals, 27 assists) in 38 games and was chosen by the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round (No. 49) of the 2025 NHL Draft. He’s the second-ever Penn State player to be chosen in the NHL draft, and first since Denis Smirnov by the Colorado Avalanche in the sixth round (No. 156) of the 2017 NHL Draft.

Michigan State (26-7-4) has finished first in the Big Ten during the regular season and won the conference tournament each of the past two seasons.

Among the returning players are forward Isaac Howard, a Tampa Bay Lightning prospect who won the Hobey Baker Trophy as the most outstanding men’s NCAA hockey player after leading Michigan State and finishing fifth among NCAA players with 52 points (26 goals, 26 assists) in 37 games.

Goalie Trey Augustine (Detroit Red Wings), who has been the starter the past two seasons and also helped the United States win the gold medal at the 2024 and 2025 World Juniors, also will return.

“His trajectory is generational because when you compare where he is at the same age to some of these other players to get to the NHL as 18-year-olds and have an impact, he’s on that same path,” Central Scouting associate director David Gregory said of McKenna. “When you think of the key skills you have to have in the NHL … you have to be smart, you have to be able to skate and you have to be able to compete. Those three important skills are maybe his three best skills, so we’re not even talking about how great his hands are.

“We don’t use the term ‘five-tool player’ in hockey as much as you hear it used in other sports, but McKenna’s one of those guys. He’s got it.”

NHL.com senior draft writer Mike G. Morreale contributed to this report