ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

BRISTOL, Conn. -- Deep in the heart of the Big East Conference, my mind still wanders back to what is happening in the Big 12.

It was a little hard not to after watching two rare Friday night games. Funny what playing those will do for your national attention, isn't it?

Watching Kansas fritter away a victory in a pulsating game for the ages against South Florida got me started. And it was just as interesting watching Baylor QB Robert Griffin turn my computer screen into his own personal playground against beleaguered Washington State. I couldn't get away from Big 12 football.

There will be more of the same Saturday during my turn in the ESPN studios.  Here are a few of the links that caught my attention this morning from back home.

• After playing superbly in leading his team back from a two-TD fourth-quarter deficit, Kansas QB Todd Reesing got a little greedy and paid for it. But the Kansas City Star's Jason Whitlock said the Jayhawks showed something in their defeat.
• Racing to beat Hurricane Ike, Baylor played with its own raging intensity in a 45-17 victory over Washington State. QB Robert Griffin set a school record with 217 yards rushing, part of a 426-yard effort by the Bears against a dog-tired Washington State defense that had traveled to Waco on the day of the game.
• Opportunistic Iowa State hopes to continue getting big plays Saturday against its biggest of nonconference rivals. Des Moines Register columnist Sean Keeler writes about how losing lingers for coaches long after the game is finished.
• Daily Oklahoman columnist Berry Tramel compares Oklahoma's game today against Washington with a similar trip to another traditional power at Alabama in 2003. Oklahoman OU beat writers Jake Trotter and John Helsley show a little local color in Seattle while still sprinkling in some talk about Jake Locker in a video. And the Tulsa World's John Hoover writes about the Sooners' redemption hopes after an infamous 2006 loss in Oregon.
• Missouri officials are hoping that sending View-Masters to potential Heisman Trophy voters will spur Chase Daniel's recognition. And as the season progresses they could send similar discs to voters hyping S William Moore and WR Jeremy Maclin. I know I want one of them.  
• Missouri LB Sean Weatherspoon's development into a pivotal player mirrors his determination to become a more vocal leader.
• Nebraska's defense will rely on speed and versatility against New Mexico State's high-powered aerial attack. Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson will be calling the plays, a rarity in modern-day Cornhusker history. The Cornhuskers' sputtering running game should be boosted with the return of T Lydon Murtha, who missed the first two games with an arm injury and a staph infection in his leg.
• A year after the celebrated switch from Bobby Reid to Zac Robinson, the Oklahoma State offense has never looked more potent. One of the main reasons is RB Kendall Hunter, who has been chasing legends throughout his career.
• Firefighters sucked about 300,000 gallons of water from Jones AT&T Stadium to allow today's SMU-Texas Tech game to be played after torrential rains in the Lubbock area. Prepare for a similar deluge -- of passes -- from both teams tonight in a game matching masterful pass-happy coaches with similar offensive strategies.
• Texas will retire the jersey numbers of Bobby Layne and Tommy Nobis at the Longhorns' rescheduled Sept. 27 game against Arkansas.