The latest BCS rankings have put the Sugar Bowl -- in addition to the Orange Bowl -- very much in play for the winner of Thursday night’s de facto Big East championship game between Rutgers and Louisville in Piscataway.

For either Rutgers or Louisville, their BCS bowl fate now hinges on whether Kent State, No. 17 in the BCS rankings released tonight, or No. 20 Boise State can crack the top 16 in next week's final rankings while also finishing ranked ahead of the Big East champion. That would earn one of the two an at-large BCS bowl bid.

With no Big East schools currently in the BCS Top 25, and with both Kent State (11-1) and Boise State (9-2) having a game remaining that should help its strength of schedule with a victory, a move into the top 16 for one is a realistic possibility.

Kent State faces Northern Illinois (11-1) in Friday's Mid-American Conference championship game. Boise closes the regular season at 7-4 Nevada.

Since the Sugar Bowl chooses its at-large team ahead of the Orange Bowl this year, the Sugar Bowl selection committee could pair the Big East champion against 11-1 Florida in the Jan. 2 game at the Superdome in New Orleans.

If the Sugar Bowl opts instead for, say, Kent State as its at-large team to play Florida, then the Florida State-Georgia Tech winner would play the Rutgers-Louisville winner on Jan. 1 in the Orange Bowl in Miami Gardens, Fla. The latter would also be the case if neither Boise State nor Kent State finish in the top 16 in next week’s final BCS poll.

Boise State was ranked No. 22 and Kent State No. 23 in last week’s BCS standings, but seven teams immediately above those two in the rankings lost (Oregon State, Texas, UCLA, No. 18 Rutgers, No. 20 Louisville, Michigan and Oklahoma State). So did Florida State and Clemson, allowing Kent especially and Boise to a lesser degree to move to the fringe of qualifying for an at-large BCS berth.

If Rutgers loses to Louisville, the Dec. 28 Russell Athletic Bowl in Orlando, Fla. is the most likely landing spot for the Knights, although the Dec. 27 Belk Bowl in Charlotte, N.C. remains a possibility. Both pair a Big East team against an ACC team, with the Russell Athletic Bowl choosing ahead of the Belk in the ACC selection process.

Rutgers (9-2 overall, 5-1 Big East) and Louisville (9-2, 4-2) will decide the Big East’s BCS bowl representative in a 7:30 kickoff at High Point Solutions Stadium. ESPN will televise the game.

Tom Luicci: tluicci@starledger.com; Twitter: @TomLuicci