There is still a bit of drama left in the college football season at it enters its final weekend. Only two teams — Pac-10 champion USC and Big 10 winner Ohio — have officially sewn up invitations to the Bowl Championship series, which will announce the pairings for its five games Sunday evening.

The Buckeyes have already clinched a spot in the January 8 BCS championship game in Glendale, Ariz., and all that separates the Trojans from joining them is a win tomorrow over crosstown rival UCLA. Michigan, Boise State, Notre Dame, and LSU — all of which have completed their regular-seasons — should claim the four BCS at-large berths. Elsewhere Saturday, the ACC, Big 12, and SEC will determine their champions (and BCS representatives) in neutral-site championship games, while local attention will focus on the Big East showdown between Rutgers and West Virginia.

NO. 13 RUTGERS (10-1, 5-1, BIG EAST) AT NO. 15 WEST VIRGINIA (9-2,4-2)
(Saturday, 7:45 p.m.,ESPN)

Rutgers has already had a memorable season, reaching 10 wins for just the second time in program history. West Virginia was stunned last weekend by upstart South Florida, meaning Rutgers will claim the conference’s BCS bid — and a likely invite to the Orange Bowl opposite the ACC champ — with a win in Morgantown. If West Virginia wins, Louisville will head to the BCS, assuming it beats Connecticut Saturday. If both Rutgers and Louisville lose, West Virginia could win a three-way tie for the BCS bid.

Rutgers’s season peaked with a come-from-behind win over then-no. 3 Louisville on November 9, but the Scarlet Knights’ bubble burst the following week in an emotional loss to Cincinnati. Rutgers shook off the disappointment with a rout of Syracuse at home last Saturday to keep its conference-title hopes alive.

Now it is West Virginia that is attempting to rally from a flat performance, which could give Rutgers the emotional edge. West Virginia is also dealing with injuries to its standout quarterback, Pat White, who has turf toe and a high-ankle sprain in his right foot. Anything that slows the explosive White, who is still expected to start, is a good thing for Rutgers. Of course, he’s not the only rushing threat West Virginia presents. Tailback Steve Slaton is among the nation’s best running backs. Together, he and White are a threat to turn any crease into a long touchdown run. The pair has accounted for 2,695 rushing yards and 31 touchdowns this season — 11 from 40 yards or longer.

South Florida might have provided Rutgers with a blueprint of how to slow the Mountaineers. They hurried White and the offense into four turnovers, including a game-clinching interception in the final minutes.

The key for Rutgers’s defense will be discipline. White excels at finding the mismatch in West Virginia’s spreadoption and knowing when to keep the ball and when to hand off or pitch to Slaton. On many of West Virginia’s big plays, either White or Slaton gets through the line of scrimmage virtually untouched, and then uses supreme speed to blow by the secondary on the way to the end zone. Rutgers, which can’t match West Virginia’s overall quickness, will suffer the same fate if anyone in the front seven gets out of position.

Offensively, the most encouraging sign for Rutgers last week was the play of quarterback Mike Teel, whose awful day against Cincinnati was largely responsible for the loss. He showed no ill effects from that four-interception performance, throwing some excellent deep balls to Kenny Britt against the Orange. Rutgers does have an excellent ground game — though it’s more a grinding attack and less explosive than West Virginia’s — but it must be able to make some big plays through the air in order to win.

If Rutgers can pull off the upset, it will not only serve as a capper to a magical season, it will bring the tenure of coach Greg Schiano full circle. The Scarlet Knights are 0–14 all time in Morgantown, including a 80–7 loss to a West Virginia team that finished 3-8 in 2001, Schiano’s first year at Rutgers.

Like his counterpart, West Virginia’s Rich Rodriguez, Schiano is rumored to be a candidate for some of the high-profile job openings around the country. While neither has said much publicly about the future, a win in this game can only enhance their reputations.

NO. 2 USC (11-1, 7-1, PAC-10) AT UCLA (6-5,4-4)
(Saturday, 4:30 p.m., ABC)

USC bombed Notre Dame last Saturday to jump Michigan for the coveted no. 2 spot in the BCS standings. If the Trojans can avoid an upset at the hands of UCLA, they will play in their third consecutive BCS championship game.

On paper, USC should have little trouble chalking up its eighth straight win over the Bruins in the only intra-city rivalry in Division I-A. But paper can’t always account for the emotions of a rivalry game, and an undermanned UCLA nearly upset the future national champion Trojans the last time UCLA hosted this matchup.

NO. 4 FLORIDA (11-1, 7-1, SEC) AT NO.9 ARKANSAS (10-2, 7-1)
(SEC Championship, 6 p.m. CBS)

Florida believes it still has a chance to reach the BCS title game, but all scenarios begin with an impressive win over Arkansas. Even with that and a UCLA win over USC, no. 3 Michigan may still get the nod over the Gators. But if the Gators are not squarely focused on stopping Arkansas and its jack-of-all-trades superback Darren McFadden, the issue is likely to become a moot point.

Florida’s recipe for success is usually defense with just enough offense from its quarterback tandem of Chris Leak and Tim Tebow to eke out narrow victories, while Arkansas counts on big plays from McFadden and fellow running back Felix Jones, using a variety of formations and trick plays to overcome its limited passing game. McFadden won’t win the Heisman Trophy this year because of Ohio State’s Troy Smith, but he will be the preseason frontrunner in 2007.

Mr. Levine is a writer for FootballOutsiders.com.