ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

Finally.

With Oklahoma State kicking off workouts this afternoon, preseason practice is beginning across the Big 12. Within the next five days, every team in the conference will have started work.

Until then, here are a few Big 12 lunch links to whet your appetite for the opening weekend of the season.

• Former Colorado fullback Keith Miller is a bass soloist who will be performing later this month with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, James Barron of the New York Times reports.
• Former Nebraska players remember the drudgery of "Camp Curtis" in another interesting "Deep Red" story by the Lincoln Journal-Star's Brian Christopherson.
• The inherent conflict of interest in the coaches' poll are analyzed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Vahe Gregorian.
• Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy's fifth training camp with the Cowboys opens Wednesday with higher expectations than any other in his coaching history, the Oklahoman's Brandon Chatmon reports.
• Veteran Texas A&M defensive coordinator Joe Kines has simplified his defensive system heading into the upcoming season, San Antonio Express-News reporter Brent Zwerneman writes.
• Baylor players are intent on polishing what they've learned as they begin their second training camp in coach Art Briles' system, Waco Tribune-Herald reporter John Werner writes.
• The Topeka Capital-Journal's Rick Dean profiles Kansas State's Carson Coffman, who has waited three years for his opportunity as a starting quarterback with the Wildcats.
• Sporting News college football pundits Dave Curtis and Matt Hayes both pick Dallas as the best spot nationally for a neutral-site game -- particularly for the Texas-Oklahoma game.
• Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and defensive assistants Brent Venables and Bobby Jack Wright all spent a day last week in Tuscaloosa, Ala., discussing strategy with Alabama coach Nick Saban and his staff, the Tulsa World's Dave Sittler reports.
• Forget about U.S. Rep. Lou Holtz. The Austin American-Statesman's Kirk Bohls analyzes the chances of Mack Brown or Mike Leach serving in the U.S. Senate.
• Derrick Washington, who rushed for 1,036 yards and ranked third among returning Big 12 running backs in rushing last season, was left off the Doak Walker Award watch list, the Columbia Daily Tribune's Dave Matter reports.
• The Ames Tribune's Bobby LaGesse writes that Paul Rhoads is taking exactly the right approach as he begins his first season at Iowa State.