1. Rutgers and Louisville are the ONLY Big East teams that can secure a BCS berth this weekend.

Rutgers can secure a BCS berth if South Florida beats Louisville Friday afternoon, Pittsburgh beats West Virginia Friday evening and the Scarlet Knights beat Connecticut Saturday. In this scenario, even if Cincinnati and Pittsburgh were to win out Rutgers would own tiebreakers over each team both in a two-way tie by virtue of head-to-head or in a three-way tie by virtue of a higher BCS ranking. Pittsburgh has five losses and it would be unlikely that the Bearcats could leapfrog Rutgers in the human polls with an 8-4 record and wins over bottom of the conference teams Syracuse and Connecticut.

Louisville could clinch a BCS berth if they beat South Florida Friday afternoon, Pittsburgh loses to West Virginia Friday evening, and Syracuse beats Cincinnati Saturday afternoon. In this scenario even if Rutgers wins against Connecticut, the Cardinals own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Scarlet Knights.

Editor's note: This was incorrect prior, thanks to our friendly Card fans for their help.

Rutgers and Louisville are also the only two teams who conclude conference play this week. Ironically, these are the two teams who were predicted to finish as the bottom two by the media and were shunned out of the Big East’s yearly make-shift attempt to schedule a quasi-conference championship weekend in the first week of December.

For a link to the Big East standings click here.

For all the Big East tie-breakers check here.

Here is a look at the rest of the scenarios with the assumption that Rutgers beats Connecticut on Saturday.

2. What would happen if Rutgers beats Connecticut, South Florida beats Louisville and West Virginia beats Pittsburgh this weekend?

Then the conference champion would be determined the following week. Rutgers would need South Florida to beat West Virginia the following Thursday.

Editor's note: Corrected from prior version



3. What would happen if Rutgers beats Connecticut, Louisville beats South Florida and West Virginia beats Pittsburgh this weekend?

Then the conference champion would be determined the following week. Rutgers would need South Florida to beat West Virginia next Thursday and Cincinnati to win its final two games against Syracuse and Connecticut. Rutgers should win the three-way tiebreaker based on the higher BCS ranking.

4. What would happen if Rutgers beats Connecticut, Louisville beats South Florida and Pittsburgh beats West Virginia this weekend?

Then the conference champion would be determined the following week. Rutgers would need either Pittsburgh to beat Syracuse or Cincinnati to beat Connecticut to create a three-way tie with Louisville. Rutgers should win the three-way tiebreaker based on the higher BCS ranking.

Rutgers can not win a three-way or four-way tie involving both Louisville AND West Virginia. For this reason, West Virginia HAS to lose one more game for Rutgers to be BCS bound, but not necessarily Louisville.

5. Rutgers could beat UCONN Saturday and still end up in the Pinstripe Bowl?

Yes. This is something that Rutgers fans do not want to hear, but such is life in the Big East with its less-than-desirable bowl tie-ins. Should Louisville win the conference, and the Champs Bowl – the Big East's #2 Bowl – as expected, executes its option to take Notre Dame once in four years, the Belk Bowl – the Big East's #3 Bowl - would likely take West Virginia to play in Charlotte. This season could be its last opportunity to take the Mountaineers before they bolt to the Big 12. The Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium picks fourth in the Big East's pecking order.

6. Is it possible that a 4-3 conference record can win the conference?

Yes. With the parity in the Big East this possibility is potentially greater than one might suspect. However, good luck figuring that one out. I'd prefer to see what happens this week before entertaining that mess.

7. What other college games should I keep an eye on this weekend?

If Rutgers wins, but either Louisville or West Virginia do not lose, then BCS rankings may come in to play the following week. Since the human polls do play a part in the BCS rankings it would be helpful for the Scarlet Knights to sneak into the top 25 this week. Here are some games where Top 25 teams could lose and clear way for Rutgers’ ascension into the polls on Sunday (based on AP and USA Today polls):

Root against #24/25 Virginia against #6/4 Virginia Tech at Virginia.

Root against #25/21 Georgia Tech against #13/14 Georgia at Georgia Tech.

Root against #22/24 Notre Dame against #4/5 Stanford at Stanford.

Root against #28/27 Auburn against #2 Alabama at Auburn.

There are others including Penn State and Clemson who could lose as well against ranked teams, but as three loss teams with brand names they may still linger at the bottom of the Top 25.

So enjoy your turkey and Thanksgiving Day, because come 11 am Friday when Louisville and South Florida kickoff you’ll be popping the Rollaids and it won’t because of the tryptophan!

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