ShadyV1

GAME: West Virginia at Louisville
TIME: 07:30 P.M. EST
VENUE: Cardinal Stadium

West Virginia and Louisville have been waiting all season to square off against each other.

Now the rest of the country is real interested, too.

The third-ranked Mountaineers and fifth-ranked Cardinals have the national spotlight to themselves on Thursday night, with each hoping to keep their BCS title hopes alive.

Louisville and West Virginia are both 7-0, including 2-0 in the Big East, and are two of six remaining unbeaten teams in Division I-A. Thursday's matchup will be the first between two top-five Big East teams since the rebuilt conference lost Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College to the ACC.

The Cardinals, along with Cincinnati and South Florida, were brought in from Conference USA last year by the Big East to make up for the losses. Miami was involved in all four of the previous top-five Big East matchups.

Louisville and West Virginia were considered the top two teams in the conference at the beginning of the season, and Thursday's game has long been anticipated as one that would determine who would win the conference title and the league's automatic BCS berth. However, Southern California's 33-31 loss to Oregon State on Saturday brought even more intrigue to this game, as the Mountaineers took over USC's spot at No. 3 in the BCS rankings while Louisville jumped to fifth.

"When we first started the season, you don't want to talk about it because you want to take one game at a time," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said on West Virginia's official Web site. "The media and fans may have been talking about this game for a long time, but coaches never approach it like that. But you're always thinking if you can get to 7-0, it's huge.

"Now it's here and we'll prepare hard for it and go in and enjoy it."

Ohio State and Michigan remained in first and second place in the BCS, and the winner of their matchup on Nov. 18 will likely play in the BCS title game. The winner of Thursday's Big East showdown has a shot at taking the other spot in the championship game if it finishes the season unbeaten, but could be jumped by a one-loss team from a tougher conference, like the SEC.

West Virginia and Louisville, both coming off bye weeks, each have tough games ahead that could boost their BCS numbers, including matchups against Pittsburgh and No. 15 Rutgers.

"We still have to prove the Big East is a force in the national title picture," West Virginia offensive lineman Dan Mozes said.

Even without the undefeated records and BCS implications, Thursday's game would likely be a big one thanks to last season's meeting. The Mountaineers trailed by 17 points in the fourth quarter before rallying to a 46-44 victory in three overtimes.

West Virginia running back Steve Slaton rushed for five touchdowns in that game, while Louisville's Michael Bush ran for four.

The Mountaineers have won a school-record 14 straight games, including a 37-11 victory over UConn on Oct. 20. The winning streak is the longest in the country behind Ohio State's 16 in a row.

"I told the guys, finally, you know who is next," Rodriguez said. "Now you can bring it up and we can talk about it. I think our players are anxious to talk about it. It's what everybody's been pointing toward."

West Virginia leads all I-A teams with 319.0 rushing yards per game and ranks fourth with 459.3 total yards per contest. Slaton is third nationally with 151.3 rushing yards per game, and quarterback Pat White has run for 349 yards with five TDs in the last two games.

However, Louisville owns the second-best offense in the country with 496.1 yards per game, and ranks seventh in the nation with 216.0 rushing despite losing Bush for the season to a broken leg in the season opener against Kentucky. The Cardinals also rank 10th in the country with 280.1 passing yards per game.

"It's the best offensive team we have played, no question," Rodriguez said.

These teams also feature stout defenses. Both are among the top 25 teams in the country in total yards allowed, and surrender fewer than 90 rushing yards per game to rank among the top 15.

The Cardinals are 7-0 for the first time since 1925 and have won 15 straight games at home, the second-best mark in the country behind USC's 30 straight home victories.

Kolby Smith, who has shared carries with George Stripling and freshman Anthony Allen, rushed for a career-high 165 yards and two touchdowns in a 28-13 win over Syracuse on Oct. 21 in Louisville's most recent game.

"It was a good win for us," Petrino said. "This is just the position we wanted to be in going into the West Virginia game. We're looking forward to it now."

Louisville will be without receivers Chris Vaughn and Scott Long, who were suspended after being arrested on charges of second-degree assault for allegedly shooting a woman with a paintball gun on Oct. 22. Vaughn has four receptions for 54 yards this season, while Long does not have a catch.

West Virginia leads the all-time series 6-1. Louisville's only win was a 9-7 home victory in 1990.

M-247gunner

Now West Virginia can forget about the BCS title, and possibly a BCS bowl also. Rutgers-Louisville for the Big East crown.

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UCFNoleFan

Louisville doesn't really need much help to get a real BCS shot, but could you imagine the BCS reaction if Louisville gets left out if they can remain unbeaten for any one loss team. They should leap UF and might not relinquish the lead with Rutgers still on the schedule, but if they find a way to get left out for a one loss team, the BCS might finally DIE!!!! Come on BCS screw one more team, just don't let it be UF that gets that cheap title shot.

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M-247gunner

Louisville won't get shut out {IMO** But yeah, we're at that time of year when we play "Who's gettin' screwed by the BCS". And I've heard a couple of SEC programs starting to whine, but what I always find funny is that the BCS was created by a former SEC comissioner.

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WWWD10

Not sold on either team. I called the Louisville over WV, I knew it was going to happen. As long as Brohm could get the ball in the air I knew they were done. I would just be pissed if Louisville plays in the National Championship. Neither WV or Louisville would be able to sniff an SEC teams jock. They haven't played any defenses. I think Louisville jumps to 4th in the BCS behind Florida. Florida and Louisville win out. Mich. beats OSU and Florida plays Mich. in the national championship. Louisville will go unbeaten and not get a bowl bid, but I don't think it's screwing them over. It's doing them a favor so they don't get embarassed. The point of going to a championship is to win. You can't win by just putting points up on the board, if you try to outscore a team it's not going to work. You have to stop them. Louisville isn't stopping any team that's in contention for the championship.

M-247gunner

I was refering to Louisville getting a BCS bowl bid more than the title. and as I said before, as it stands now the championship game will be the Big-10 winner vs. the SEC champion.

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InfinitePulse

Rutgers isn't that great... if Lville keeps playing the way they did last night, R has no chance.

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M-247gunner

The game is at Rutgers, and I belive they have one of the top Rushin' defenses in the nation. should be a good one.

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WWWD10

Church....that's all...Church. I honestly think this years bowl games are going to be pretty decent.

KWR

Yeah, I am hoping that Louisville loses to Rutgers. If Lousiville stays unbeaten then they will probably be playing against OSU. WVU finally played a team that athletic wise matched up with them.

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Chuck Norris recently picked up a football, his new name? Tim Tebow.