ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Griffin

The remnants and reminders of Hurricane Ike can be found scattered across the Texas A&M campus.

Parking will be at a premium for the Aggies' game Saturday against Miami because many surface lots have been taken over by the arrival of refugees from the storm. Nearby Reed Arena is a government-designated emergency site. About 300 special-needs patients are being treated on the floor of the arena after being transported there from throughout the hurricane-ravaged area.

Aggies officials took down banners, goal posts and wind screens with the approach of the storm. The campus was largely untouched.

Not as fortunate was the nearby campus of Texas A&M at Galveston, which suffered some significant damage. It has led to the relocation of about 1,000 Galveston-campus students to College Station, where they could remain for the rest of the semester.

Hotel rooms, already tough to come by on a football game day, are at even more of a premium this weekend in the Bryan-College Station area because evacuees have been using them since the storm blew through. It's led the 12th Man Foundation at Texas A&M to start an organized drive of releasing additional rooms in the area that might have been reserved for Saturday's game.

Some might wonder why the game should be played this weekend after the recent catastrophe. But in a way, having a game on Saturday will be good for the Southeast Texas area. It will give everyone a chance to forget about their recent troubles, at least for a few hours.

Here are some links from around the Big 12 this morning.

• Who's counting? Colorado claimed a 17-14 overtime victory after West Virginia K Pat McAfee bounced his kick off the left upright before Aric Goodman's game-winning kick. The victory came despite 10 straight possessions without Colorado scoring before the late rally.
• Scintillating Baylor freshman QB Robert Griffin will be on display during the Bears' nationally televised game tonight at Connecticut.
• San Antonio Express-News columnist Mike Finger places Griffin's quick debut into perspective, comparing his strong start with others produced by Big 12 freshman quarterbacks.
• Oklahoma State QB Zac Robinson's rushing production is down this season, yet the Cowboys' offense is humming.
• Austin American-Statesman columnists Kirk Bohls and Cedric Golden wonder in their weekly video report if Texas really deserves mention among the nation's elite.
• Returning Big 12 rushing leader Marlon Lucky is adapting well to the Cornhuskers' increased depth at I-back.
• Only a handful of Iowa cable customers will be able to watch Iowa State's game at UNLV on Saturday night.
• Kansas TB Angus Quigley calls himself "the most inexperienced, experienced back" on the Jayhawks' team.
• Missouri already has 10 freshmen receiving significant playing time so far this season.
• Kansas City Star columnist Blair Kerkhoff wonders if Oklahoma DT DeMarcus Granger's recent injury was college football's version of a purpose pitch.
• Oklahoman columnist Jenni Carlson writes about Oklahoma QB Sam Bradford as an emerging Heisman candidate.
• Texas A&M and Miami both are eyeing a return to the football elite after recent struggles in both programs.
• A developing ground game is providing -- at least for Texas Tech -- an unconventional way to boost its offense.
• Undersized WR Brandon Banks came up big for Kansas State against Louisville, producing seven catches for a game-high 153 yards.