ESPN College Football

The games will be starting early this week with one contest tonight as Oklahoma State and Colorado meet in Stillwater.

But the action isn't limited to the field. Speculation already is rife about a couple of Big 12 coaching jobs before the season even finishes.

Here's some of the early guesswork, along with other stories across the conference this morning.

• The Denver Post’s Woody Paige douses those Mike Shanahan-to-Boulder rumors and predicts Dan Hawkins will remain at least one more year at Colorado. And the Boulder Daily Camera’s Kyle Ringo analyzes the immense pressure that Hawkins is facing to win the game tonight against Oklahoma State.
• The Kansas City Star’s Jason Whitlock calls Mark Mangino “an abusive bully” and adds that Kansas can improve its situation with another coach.
• The Des Moines Register’s Randy Peterson lists five ways for Iowa State to beat Missouri.
• John Powers of the Boston Globe has an interesting look at how expectations have changed for former Nebraska quarterback Patrick Witt since he transferred to Yale.
• Oklahoma State quarterback Zac Robinson should sit out tonight's game against Colorado, the Oklahoman’s John Rohde suggests.
• The Austin American-Statesman’s Suzanne Halliburton profiles the Acho brothers – Texas defensive end Sam Acho and Texas linebacker Emmanuel Acho.
• Kansas State quarterback Grant Gregory tells the Topeka Capital-Journal’s Jeffrey Rake that he expects a tight defensive battle when facing Nebraska Saturday night.
• The Kansas City Star's Mike DeArmond details how Missouri has responded to two different leaders – senior linebacker Sean Weatherspoon and senior wide receiver Danario Alexander.
• The Oklahoman's Jake Trotter details the significant drop in offensive numbers across the Big 12 this season.
• Nebraska senior offensive lineman Jacob Meyer will be meeting up with his old team when the Cornhuskers play Kansas State Saturday night, the Lincoln Journal Star’s Brian Rosenthal writes.