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Despite some tweaks this year, college football's most controversial rule — targeting — is still in the rulebook, and that means it's surely going to create some confusion and frustration among teams and their fan bases this season. 

The rules around targeting are rooted in concern for players' safety — both the player making the tackle and on the receiving end. But that doesn't mean everyone fully understands the rules. 

So as targeting calls seem to evolve in turn with the college football landscape, what do this year’s targeting penalties look like? And what is targeting? We're here to break it down in simple terms.

Targeting in college football, essentially, is when a player initiates forcible contact against an opponent beyond a routine legal tackle, block or play on the ball. And there's an emphasis around players' heads and necks.

OK, so what does that actually look like?

Targeting could mean a player leads with the crown of their helmet while making forcible contact OR it could mean making forcible contact above the shoulders of a defenseless opponent, especially with a helmet or shoulder. 

When a targeting call is up for debate by officials, it’s ruled a foul. However, there still needs to be at least one indicator of targeting.

Some indicators of targeting — per the NCAA rulebook — include: 

If a player leads with the crown of their helmet, it’s targeting, regardless of whether the player is defenseless.

Additionally, instant replays must confirm the targeting call because there is no "stands" option.

In the past years, the penalty — in the second quarter of play — used to be an automatic disqualification for the rest of that game and first half of the following game. This season, the rules have shifted to allow fewer disqualifications. 

Now, if a player is ruled out for targeting in the second half, they do not face the first-half suspension. But, a second targeting that same season would force that player to face a first-half suspension the next game. 

However, if the player commits three or more targeting penalties, individual conferences have the option to submit an appeal. The appeal process includes a video review by the NCAA national coordinator of football officials. If the appeal is accepted, the player does not face a suspension and is eligible to play for the full game. 

Yes, players are ejected for targeting. 

A player will be ejected for the rest of the game if they commit a targeting foul. However, if a player commits the same penalty in the same season — specifically in the second half of a game — the player is ejected from the game and suspended from the first half of the next game. 

If a player commits three or more targeting fouls in the same season, they are ejected for the remainder of the game, and receive a one-game suspension for the following game. The suspension also includes postseason competition. 

The NCAA rulebook states the following:

"As an experimental rule for 2026, for a player’s first targeting foul in a season, disqualification for the remainder of the game with no carryover disqualification. If a player receives a second targeting foul within the same season, disqualification for the remainder of the game and the first half of the team’s next scheduled game within that season, including post-season games."

Despite the minor changes to the penalties, the rule may only be in effect for one season as an experiment.

"One of the biggest changes we've made for the good, once it goes to replay, you must confirm all aspects of targeting," NCAA secretary-rules editor for football and national coordinator of officials, Steve Shaw, said via CBS Sports. "This is an experimental rule this year and the commissioners were content (on that) they wanted to make sure this doesn't change behavior back and start a new trend of targeting."

The WNBA has been under critical fire since the first day Caitlin Clark joined the league.

While being in the midst of culture war battles, Clark has also been the victim of some hard fouls due to what's commonly been perceived as massive jealousy from her peers.

As the WNBA has dealt with its own apparent battle amid its players on different sides of the transgender athlete debate, the league drummed up even more controversy after deleting a post about a wager between Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers.

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The two stars recorded a video in which they wagered $400 on a recent game between their respective teams — betting of any kind is strictly prohibited under the WNBA's new collective bargaining agreement, with Section 5 of Article 14 in the agreement dedicated to gambling regulations. A WNBA spokesperson released a statement on Thursday claiming that the quickly deleted video was "intended to be lighthearted," but that it "simply missed the mark."

NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, though, saw practically nothing wrong with what Reese and Bueckers did.

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL TALKS LEBRON JAMES' LAKERS LEGACY, WHY HIS NEW 76ERS MIGHT BE EXTREMELY 'DANGEROUS'

"That’s what we call a 'homeboy bet.' If it falls under gambling, it would be under the misdemeanor section; people need to stop it. She's not f---ing point shaving," O'Neal told Fox News Digital recently.

The former big man also admitted that there is "professional jealousy" when it comes to Clark, but "it’s what we call the rites of passage."

"There's girls that are going, 'You don't talk about me like that, you talk about her.' You gotta take advantage of that opportunity. You have to go at who they think the best is. If you got other people coming at her, then it is what it is. Once she gets through this next year and keeps playing the way she's playing, they’ll have no choice but to love and accept it," O'Neal said. "But this is what we call rites of passage. We don’t just let youngsters come in and take over because they’re getting all the props from the media.

"Caitlin's a tough cookie. She'll be able to get over it. Angel's throwing 'bows, talking smack, letting everyone know, 'I'm not scared.' Caitlin's probably gotta do a little more of that."

Clark recently went after the WNBA, saying it needs to do a better job of protecting its players both on and off the court.

OutKick's Mark Harris contributed to this report.

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John Harkes, a member of the 1994 USMNT World Cup squad, was at Levi's Stadium on Wednesday night and had the same reaction as just about everybody when Folarin Balogun had to leave the game.

"We kept going, 'Wait a minute, that's not a red card,'" Harkes said of his reaction in an interview with Fox News Digital.

"You know, we're in the stadium, and right away I think I was standing there next to my daughter-in-law and our grandson, and then my son and my wife. Both my son and my wife, Cindy and Ian, turned and said, 'That's not a red card.' And I'm like, 'Oh my God,'" he said. "I don't think it was a red card at all, to be honest with you."

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With Balogun's absence, the USMNT had to play with 10 men for the rest of the game. However, a red card results in an automatic suspension for the next game, meaning that one official can alter multiple games with just one decision, even if it is, as Harkes put it, a "50/50" play.

Harkes was "a victim" of something similar in 1994, the last time the United States hosted the World Cup prior to this year. He earned yellow cards in the first and third games, prompting a suspension for the United States' July 4 game against Brazil.

"It crushed me. I kept thinking to myself, 'This is the best in the world coming together, and you're going to make a player sit out the next game because of yellow card accumulation?'" Harkes said.

FIFA RULES LEAVE TEAM USA NO RECOURSE AFTER FOLARIN BALOGUN'S CONTROVERSIAL RED CARD

Soccer certainly is not baseball, where the rules are ever-changing. But if there was one, Harkes would like to see red cards from one game not affect other games.

"That's way above my pay grade, but, at the same time, so many people discuss it on a consistent basis. So, let's really take a look at this and see: Does it make sense? I don't think it does. Not in a tournament format. I don't think so," he said.

Unfortunately for the U.S., there is nothing anyone can do. Article 9.6 of the 2026 World Cup regulations reads, "No protests may be made about the referee’s decisions regarding facts connected with play. Such decisions are final and not subject to appeal, unless otherwise stipulated in the FIFA Disciplinary Code."

"If a player or team official is sent off as a result of a direct or indirect red card (second caution), they will automatically be suspended from their team’s subsequent match," Article 10.5 states.

Despite it not looking like Balogun had any ill intent, the United States will have no choice but to find a replacement for someone who has probably been its best player in what is now perhaps the most important game in U.S. soccer history Monday night.

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The United States men's national team earned arguably its biggest victory in recent history, but it came at quite a cost.

In the midst of its 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday night, Folarin Balogun, the team's leading goal scorer in this World Cup, who found the back of the net in the first half, was handed a controversial red card.

In going for a loose ball, Balogun and an opponent got incidentally tangled up to the point where Balogun stepped on the opponent's ankle, causing it to roll awkwardly. The video assistant referee (VAR) ordered the play to be looked at, and Balogun's transgressions were deemed "serious" enough for the red card.

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The red card meant that not only was Balogun ejected from the game and the USA was forced to play the rest of the match with 10 people, but Balogun will also miss the team's Round of 16 match against Belgium on Monday.

Almost immediately, the outcry over the red card was extreme, and fans were hoping for some sort of appeal process to take place, but it does not exist.

Article 9.6 of the 2026 World Cup regulations reads, "No protests may be made about the referee’s decisions regarding facts connected with play. Such decisions are final and not subject to appeal, unless otherwise stipulated in the FIFA Disciplinary Code."

"If a player or team official is sent off as a result of a direct or indirect red card (second caution), they will automatically be suspended from their team’s subsequent match," Article 10.5 states.

In fact, punishments can only increase. For example, Qatar midfielder Assim Madibo was suspended for five games after breaking the leg of Canada's Ismaël Koné. While it's unlikely in Balogun's case, it actually isn't off the table.

ALEXI LALAS RIPS REFEREES AFTER FOLARIN BALOGUN RED CARD IN TEAM USA WIN: 'AN ABSOLUTE JOKE'

There are many different opinions out there as to whether VAR was applied to the situation properly, but unfortunately for the United States, it can simply be used to determine whether a red card should be given out. And ultimately, after looking at the footage, the decision is up to the head referee, although the referee can receive input from the video assistant referee and/or other officials.

The International Football Association Board states that slow-motion replay should generally be avoided in VAR, but it could be used to determine "facts, e.g. position of offence/player, point of contact for physical offences and handball, ball out of play (including goal/no goal); normal speed should be used for the ‘intensity’ of an offence or to decide if it was a handball offence." So, this incident may fall under the "physical offences" portion of that bylaw.

And ultimately, according to the IFAB, "Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play."

So, despite it not looking like Balogun had any ill intent, it is the unfortunate, unlucky hand the USMNT has been dealt. The United States will have no choice but to find a replacement for someone who has probably been in its best player in what is now perhaps the most important game in United States soccer history.

The United States is favored ever so slightly to defeat Belgium on Monday night in Seattle, but the odds undoubtedly have taken a hit.

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As subscription streaming services grab more and more games from free TV and basic cable, many fans are crying foul.

A new Fox News national survey of registered voters finds that majorities of both sports fans (72%) and non-fans (60%) think major sporting events should be required to stay on free broadcast television, not behind streaming paywalls. Only 27% of fans and 38% of non-fans say leagues should be allowed to shift games to paid streaming services.

FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS OPPOSE ACTION IN IRAN BUT GIVE US MILITARY POSITIVE MARKS

For those who like to catch their favorite team from their favorite couch, the price is becoming a serious penalty. Nearly 6 in 10 sports fans say they’ve skipped watching a game at least a few times in the past year because it was too expensive, including about one-third who say this has happened "many times."

And even when fans are willing to pay, figuring out how to watch can feel like a blocked shot. Nearly half of fans (47%) say they've skipped games because it was too difficult to find or access them. Then again, roughly the same share (46%) say they’ve only rarely or never been sidelined. When it comes to TV viewing, they've really got game.

FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS EXPECT AI TO TRANSFORM OUR LIVES — BUT TODAY IS NOT THAT DAY

CLICK HERE FOR CROSSTABS AND TOPLINE.

Nearly three-quarters of registered voters consider themselves sports fans (73%).

Conducted March 20–23, 2026, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,001 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (104) and cellphones (641) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (256). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. Results among sports fans have a margin of sampling error of ±3.5 points and non-sports fans ±6 points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data.

Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Wednesday, imploring the league to nix its Rooney Rule.

The rule requires NFL organizations to interview at least two minority candidates for major positions before pulling the trigger on a hire.

Uthmeier called the Rooney Rule "illegal" and "blatant race and sex discrimination."

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"As applied in Florida, the NFL’s ‘Rooney Rule,’ which governs the hiring of certain team executives and coaches, brazenly violates Florida law. So, too, do the NFL’s related ‘diversity’ initiatives," Uthmeier wrote in the letter.

"The Florida Civil Rights Act prohibits employers from ‘fail[ing] or refus[ing] to hire any individual’; ‘limit[ing], segregate[ing], or classify[ing] employees or applicants for employment in any way which would deprive or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities’; and ‘discriminat[ing] against any individual with respect to compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment,’ because of the ‘individual’s race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status,’ the letter continued. 

"The Act also prohibits employers from discriminating based on those same characteristics ‘in admission to … any program established to provide apprenticeship or other training.’ The Rooney Rule and its offshoots require precisely what Florida law forbids. 

"They require teams to limit, segregate, and classify applicants for certain employment and training opportunities because of race and sex. And they do so in a way that tends to deprive applicants of opportunities for employment.

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"The NFL’s own Executive Vice President of NFL Operations (Troy Vincent Sr.) has acknowledged that the NFL should create ‘a workplace culture that doesn’t require mandates to interview people of color and minorities.’ If that is so, then stop discriminating based on race. Stop discriminating based on sex. Interview, hire, and train based on merit. 

"If merit-based employment should exist anywhere (and it should exist everywhere), it is in the NFL. NFL fans in Florida don’t care what color their coach’s skin is. They care what colors their coach is wearing — and that those colors are winning on the football field."

Uthmeier then asked Goodell to "please confirm no later than May 1, 2026, that the NFL will no longer enforce the Rooney Rule or any variation or extension thereof — which requires consideration of race, sex, or any other prohibited classification — on teams in Florida. Failure to provide such confirmation may result in a civil rights enforcement action."

The NFL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Rooney Rule went into effect in 2003. As of publication, three NFL head coaches are Black, and none were hired this offseason, although several were hired for coordinator positions.

Brian Flores, Steve Wilks and Ray Horton have a discrimination case against the NFL, with Flores saying the league was "rife with racism" in its hiring practices for coaches.

Fox News' Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.

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Sherrone Moore, who was fired as Michigan's head football coach in December, pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors in a deal to resolve a felony criminal case. 

Moore was facing charges of stalking, breaking and entering and home invasion of the home of his executive assistant, with whom he allegedly had an extramarital affair. 

Authorities said Moore had confronted the alleged mistress and blamed her for his dismissal, even threatening to kill himself with butter knives in her apartment. 

The case was resolved after Friday's plea deal. 

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The deal was struck the same day a judge planned to hear a challenge to Moore’s arrest in December on three charges, including felony home invasion. Those previous charges were dropped in exchange for Moore pleading no contest to misdemeanor trespassing and misdemeanor malicious use of a telecommunications device.

His sentencing is scheduled for April 14 for charges that have a potential maximum of six months and 30 days in prison.

"All the charges against Mr. Moore were not supported by facts and law," said attorney Ellen Michaels, standing alongside Moore and his wife outside the courtroom. "The dismissal of those charges validates the concerns we raised about the investigation from the very beginning. Mr. Moore is pleased to put this behind him and move forward.

"It’s not stalking if the communication has a legitimate purpose."

Moore declined comment to reporters after the hearing. 

"No, I’m good," he said. "Appreciate it."

FORMER MICHIGAN COACH JIM HARBAUGH REACTS TO SHERRONE MOORE'S FIRING AND CHARGES

Moore, 40, was fired Dec. 10 after two seasons as the successor to Jim Harbaugh, who won a national championship before leaving to lead the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers.

In dismissing Moore, the university cited his inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Assistant prosecutor Kati Rezmierski said the woman ended the affair a few days before Moore’s firing and cooperated with the school’s investigation.

Michaels declined to say if she was involved in potential litigation against the university on Moore’s behalf. He signed a five-year contract with a base annual salary of $5.5 million last year. According to the terms of his deal, the university did not have to buy out the remaining years of his contract because he was fired for cause.

Michigan also did not renew the contract of the female football staffer who was suspected to have been in a relationship with Moore.

A university spokesperson confirmed the departure to Fox News Digital.

"Her contract expired and was not renewed," the spokesperson said.

The staffer, whose LinkedIn profile listed her as an executive assistant to the head football coach at the University of Michigan, earned just over $58,000 in 2023 and 2024, according to public payroll information. In the 2025 fiscal year, though, her salary jumped to $99,000, according to a salary disclosure report from the University of Michigan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The University of Michigan has not renewed the contract of the female football staffer who was suspected to have been in a relationship with fired coach Sherrone Moore.

A university spokesperson confirmed the departure to Fox News Digital on Wednesday. 

"Her contract expired and was not renewed," the spokesperson said. 

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Moore allegedly maintained an inappropriate, yearslong relationship with the staffer, despite him being married with multiple children.

Court documents obtained by Fox News Digital revealed allegations made by the staffer’s attorney, Heidi Sharp, on the day that Moore allegedly entered her home without permission, which later resulted in his arrest. 

Det. Jessica Welker of the Pittsfield Township Police Department testified in court that the staffer called Sharp after Moore entered the residence and refused to leave. Sharp then told emergency dispatch that Moore was inside of her client's home "attacking her."

The woman accused Moore of continuing to approach her until she was able to get her attorney on the phone, at which point he "immediately backed up and turned the knives on himself, pointing them at his neck, saying that he was going to kill himself and that she was going to watch."

MICHIGAN QB BRYCE UNDERWOOD TO REMAIN WITH PROGRAM AFTER SHERRONE MOORE SCANDAL

Moore then left the staffer's residence and was later taken into custody by law enforcement, where he denied physically attacking the staffer.

The staffer, whose LinkedIn profile listed her as an executive assistant to the head football coach at the University of Michigan, earned just over $58,000 in 2023 and 2024, according to public payroll information. In the 2025 fiscal year, though, her salary jumped to $99,000, according to a salary disclosure report from the University of Michigan.

That's a 70.62% increase year-over-year — even higher than the figure circulating social media right now, via UMSalary.info.

Moore, who faces felony home invasion, stalking and illegal entry charges, scored a legal victory last month when a judge granted a request for a hearing to learn more about the investigation that led to criminal charges against him.

Judge J. Cedric Simpson, who is presiding, expressed concern that a police detective didn’t disclose Moore's employer-employee relationship with the woman when a magistrate authorized a warrant for his arrest. Simpson described it as a "glaring omission."

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The conflict over biological males in girls' sports in California re-entered the national spotlight over the weekend. The debate's flames were fanned by a large-scale protest at a state high school sports meeting and then a controversial outcome at a girls' track and field meet the next day. 

The state has become the nation's biggest epicenter for the issue, and the target of a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly violating Title IX for its transgender eligibility policies.

Internally, many of the state's residents have continued to dissent from the state for those policies. That dissent culminated in a flash point on Friday when dozens of female athletes and their families rallied outside a California Interscholatic Federation (CIF) council meeting in Long Beach to protest. 

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California Family Council Outreach Director Sophia Lorey told Fox News Digital it was their largest rally yet, as they've held several in recent years.

Local California girls who have been impacted by male competitors in their sports took to the podium to speak out against the CIF for not changing its policies. A total of 16 speakers, comprised of high school athletes, family members, politicians and activists spoke at the rally. 

Many of the speeches have since gone viral. 

Former Jurupa Valley High School student athlete Hadeel Hazameh had to graduate early after speaking out in the fall against a trans teammate on her track and field and volleyball team. 

Arroyo Grande High School student athlete Celeste Duyst recalled an alleged experience of a biological male trans athlete watching her and other girls change in the locker room. 

California GOP State Assemblymembers Kate Sanchez and David Tangipa showed up to give speeches in support of the girls as well. 

Meanwhile, Democrat State Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal also showed up to film a Facebook video mocking the protesters, claiming the Republicans in attendance "don't actually care about women."

"We all know they don't actually care about women," Lowenthal said. 

Inside the meeting, protesters on both sides of the issue spoke emotionally about the topic. But Lorey told Fox News Digital that the council members at no point addressed the issue of protecting girls' sports, or even made eye contact with the speakers. 

Singer and Los Angeles mayoral candidate Tish Hyman delivered a boisterous speech condemning the CIF council members. 

"Martin Luther King did not march so these trans people, or whatever they are, can use our civil rights to push trans drugs on kids!" Hyman yelled. 

Crean Lutheran High School student Reese Hogan went viral last spring when she stepped onto the first place spot on a medal podium at a CIF postseason meet, right after the trans athlete who finished above her stepped off. Hogan spoke in the meeting about having to repeatedly compete against the male athlete. 

"On May 4th, 2024, May 10th, 2025, May 17th, 2025, May 30th, 2025, and January 31st, 2026, I competed in meets where I lost to a male athlete competing in a girl's track and field. These are not isolated incidents, they are repeated moments where female athletes like were directly affected by policies that ignore reality" Hogan said. 

Speakers in support of trans athletes in girls' sports, including a local trans student, also delivered speeches to the council members that Lorey said went unaddressed. 

'HORRIBLE' MOMENTS EXPOSED FOR UNR VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS WHEN THEY WERE ROPED INTO THE SJSU TITLE IX SCANDAL

"This national focus to only brings extreme scrutiny and harm to these students," the trans student said. "I myself was subject to extreme protest, sometimes hundreds of students protesting against me."

ACLU of Southern California attorney Kristen Burzynski argued "sports should be for all kids," at the meeting. 

"This is not about fairness. It's not about protecting girls. It's about making life harder for young people who are already being pushed to the margins," Burzynski said. "Transgender students are not trying to cheat or steal trophies. They just want to play with their friends."

The day after the meeting, a prominent transgender athlete for Jurupa Valley High School won first place in the girls’ triple jump at the VS California Winter Championships. The athlete also won second place in the girls' long jump. 

Fox News Digital is not disclosing the name of the trans athlete in this specific story at the request of the athlete's mother when we reached out for comment. However, the mother and athlete have previously spoken out publicly and the athlete's name is widely reported and known.

News of the trans athlete's victory quickly spread across social media.

Activists across the country have spoken out to further condemn California leadership for enabling such incidents to occur. 

New York Times bestselling author Dr. Naomi Wolfe shared news of the incident on X, writing "I just can’t stand this anymore." 

Great Britain Olympic Medalist Sharron Davies wrote in response to the news on X, "Remember 95% of 15/16 boys world records are faster than elite female world records. This is just cheating."

Former U.S. gymnast and XX-XY Athletics co-founder Jennifer Sey wrote, "How many girls has this one boy pushed off the podium?"

Fox News Digital has reached out to the CIF and Jurupa Unified School District for comment. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a podcast conversation with Charlie Kirk last March that he believed males competing in girls' sports is "deeply unfair" but has not taken any action or even any verbal initiative to address the situation. 

In September, Newsom's office provided a statement to Fox News Digital in response to the complaints by athletes and parents, suggesting the responsibility falls on the CIF, CDE and state legislature, but not on him. 

"CIF is an independent nonprofit that governs high school sports. The California Department of Education is a separate constitutional office. Neither is under the Governor’s authority. CIF and the CDE have stated they follow existing state law — a law that was passed in 2013 and signed by Governor Jerry Brown (not Newsom) and in line with 21 other states. For the law to change, the legislature would need to send the Governor a bill. They have not," the statement read. 

On April 1, the California state legislature blocked two bills that would reverse the current law which allows males in girls' sports. 

Every Democrat voted against it, with Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur arguing that one of the bills "is really reminiscent to me of what happened in Nazi Germany in the 1930s. We are moving towards autocracy in this country. In Nazi Germany, transgender people were persecuted, barred from public life." 

Zbur said this while in the presence of a descendant of a holocaust survivor, who had to excuse herself from the chamber, according to Sanchez. 

"She stood up and left because she was just so disgusted with the comparison," Sanchez told Fox News Digital. 

Newsom made no public statement at the time encouraging any of his fellow Democrats to support the bill. At that point, Newsom had already made his first public statements disputing the "fairness" of trans athletes in girls' and women's sports, in the first episode of his podcast after he was pressed on the issue by the late Charlie Kirk. 

Newsom's office provided a transcript of an apparent exchange between him and a reporter on April 2, the day after the bills were blocked, in which the governor said he "didn't pay any attention" to the bills. He added that he was preoccupied with Los Angeles wildfire recovery. 

"Well, I didn't pay any attention to the committee yesterday. I was, literally, spent most of the day talking about LA fire recovery with our teams. And progress is being made there, by the way, but we're starting to run up into some of those ‘abundance’ conversations around permitting that's already starting to take shape, where most of my focus was yesterday," Newsom said when asked about the failed vote and the general issue of males in girls' sports.

The U.S. Department of Education announced 19 new investigations into educational entities suspected of violating Title IX.

Jurupa Unified School District (JUSD) in Riverside, California was at the very top of investigations that the Education Department announced on Jan. 14.

Meanwhile, one of the state's largest public universities, San Jose State, was determined to have violated Title IX in its handling of transgender volleyball player Blaire Fleming from 2022-24. SJSU receives the majority of its operating budget from state appropriation, with state funding accounting for approximately 52% of its total budget, per the university. 

The university has an ultimatum to comply with a series of resolution terms, or it could face a loss of federal funding and a potential lawsuit itself. 

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Gavin McKenna, a top NHL prospect who plays for the Penn State Nittany Lions’ ice hockey team, is facing an assault charge after an altercation Saturday night.

A criminal complaint was filed Wednesday against McKenna, 18, charging him with felony aggravated assault that "attempts to cause serious bodily injury or causes injury with extreme indolence."

McKenna was also charged with simple assault, harassment and disorderly conduct in the Jan. 31 incident.

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"We are aware that charges have been filed; however, as this is an ongoing legal matter, we will not have any further comment," a Penn State official told Fox News Digital in a statement.

The State College Police Department published a media release confirming the charges against McKenna stemmed from an altercation in the 100 block of South Pugh Street on Jan. 31.

McKenna was arraigned on the charges and released on $20,000 unsecured bail. He has a preliminary hearing set for Feb. 11 at Centre County Courthouse in Bellefonte, Penn. 

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McKenna reportedly had been at a bar with friends and family after the team’s outdoor game at Beaver Stadium against Michigan State, per Onward State. McKenna scored in the game, but the Spartans won 5-4.

During the incident, McKenna allegedly assaulted an individual, leaving the victim with a broken jaw.

McKenna is considered by many to be the potential first overall pick of the 2026 NHL Draft after 24 games with the Nittany Lions and playing in the WHL the last three years with the Medicine Hat Tigers.

McKenna, who grew up in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada, totaled 129 points (41 goals, 88 assists) in 56 games last season with the Tigers before making the jump to NCAA hockey.

He has also represented Canada at the World Junior U-20 Championships for the past two years, tallying four goals and 10 assists in seven games this year.

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