It’s official: That college hockey doubleheader called the Hockey City Classic at Chicago’s Soldier Field, featuring a game between Wisconsin and Minnesota, is set for February 17, 2013. Watch our interview with Minnesota’s Zach Budish now and check out the event’s website, Twitter account (@HkyCityClassic), and Facebook page for more updates and information. Also, check out our interview with Wisconsin’s Frankie Simonelli in this post.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Big Ten Conference released the list of student-athletes who will attend the 2012 Big Ten Media Days and Kickoff Luncheon on Thursday and Friday, July 26 and 27, at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago. Three players from every team will be in attendance, as well as all 12 head coaches. See the complete list of players in this post.

Every season, there are fresh faces that make impacts–true freshmen, redshirt freshmen, transfers from four-year schools, junior-college transfers. And often times, the newcomers seemingly come out of nowhere to make big impacts. Perfect example: Lavonte David two seasons ago. Following is a look at one newcomer from each Big Ten team who has a good chance to make a significant impact this season. Consider this your chance to learn about these guys now.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers are expected to wear a patch on their jerseys this season honoring the late Gary Tinsley. They’ll also have an impressive mural in the team locker room dedicated to their former teammate. @GopherGridiron tweeted a picture of the mural Wednesday, saying: “Gary Tinsley is going to be with us in ’12.”

The video view counter on YouTube suggests that many of you have seen the variety of video spoofs of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” video. There was the Harvard baseball team, the SMU rowing team, and the Miami Dolphins cheerleaders. Even Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster got in on the act with his own distinct cookie-related twist. You can now count a handful of Big Ten mascots as inspired fans of the song, too.