ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Brian Bennett

They're not exactly the most enticing matchups, but at least we have actual Big East football tonight. Connecticut plays host to Hofstra, while Cincinnati takes on Eastern Kentucky.

* The Huskies are wary of an upset, but they're not too arrogant to take anyone lightly, Desmond Connor says in the Hartford Courant.

* Forget about Ben Mauk, who has his last NCAA hearing today at 3:30 p.m. It's Dustin Grutza's team now, and he has handled some difficult times very professionally, Bill Koch writes in The Cincinnati Enquirer.

* Rutgers' offensive line remains in flux. Left guard Kevin Haslam returned to practice from his ankle injury, but now left tackle Anthony Davis is nursing a back issue, reports Tom Luicci in The Star-Ledger. The Scarlet Knights also are hoping to shore up their special teams, which weren't very special last year.

* New offensive coordinator Jeff Brohm might give Louisville an edge Sunday against Kentucky, says C.L. Brown of The Courier-Journal. Columnist Rick Bozich says it's a bad sign that safety Bobby Buchanan, Ray Buchanan's little bro, is the team's leading returning tackler. Steve Kragthorpe would like to see ball carriers on the ground before they reach the secondary.

* The offenses at Villanova and West Virginia are quite similar. There just aren't any Pat Whites or Noel Devines at Villanova, Dave Hickman writes in the Charleston Gazette.

* The optimism about Pittsburgh has spilled over to the fans. Season-ticket sales have topped 34,000, plus 7,000 student tickets, at the 65,000-seat Heinz Field. That's the highest total since 2003, and about 12,000 more than last year, Paul Zeise reports in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

* Former Syracuse great Donovin Darius gets an assist for bringing new starting free safety Randy McKinnon to campus, Donnie Webb notes in the Syracuse Post-Standard. Colleague Dave Rahme says, if Connecticut can do it, why not Syracuse?

* Jim Leavitt is confident in new cornerbacks Jerome Murphy and Tyller Roberts, the Tampa Tribune reports. Two more Bulls were cleared to play by the NCAA, leaving just one still waiting for approval, Greg Auman notes in the St. Petersburg Times.

Program note: I'll be hosting a live chat on ESPN.com at 2:30 this afternoon. Please stop by with your Big East questions.