Miami will be playing for the national college football championship in early January if the Hurricanes prevail over Virginia Tech Saturday. But,last week's upsets made a mess of the championship picture and, on the final regular season weekend, several teams were still in contention.
"It's down to a one-game season," Miami Coach Larry Coker said. "We're not going anywhere if we don't beat Virginia Tech."
Top-ranked Miami (10-0), bitter over being snubbed for the title game last season, can extend the nation's longest winning streak to 21 games and get that coveted Rose Bowl invite by beating No. 13 Virginia Tech (8-2) in a Big East battle at Blacksburg, where Miami has lost the last three meetings.
Second-ranked Florida (9-1) is the front-runner for the other title berth but will have its hands full Saturday dealing with fourth-ranked Tennessee (9-1) in a game that will decide the Southeastern Conference East Division champ. The winner then will have to play the West Division winner, either No. 22 Auburn or No. 24 LSU, both 7-3 and who also meet Saturday, in the league title game Dec. 8.
In another game of prime importance, No. 3 Texas (10-1) meets 10th-ranked Colorado (9-2) in the Big 12 Conference title game at Texas Stadium in Irving.
The Big 12 championship game was expected to have Nebraska and Oklahoma meeting for a spot in the Rose Bowl. That scenario ended when Nebraska was routed by Colorado, 62-36, last Friday and Oklahoma was edged by Oklahoma State, 16-13, a day later.
The loss by Oklahoma clinched the South Division title for Texas, which defeated Texas A&M, 21-7, last week.
While other national title contenders fell by the wayside, Miami never broke stride in a 65-7 win over Washington last week.
The Hurricanes have scored 124 points in their last two games, marking the first back-to-back 50-point games in school history. On the other side of the ball, Miami has held eight of 10 opponents to seven points or less, including three shutouts.
Virginia Tech also has excelled defensively, pitching four shutouts. But the Hokies (8-2) have yet to play a ranked team this season, let alone a team as strong as Miami.
In recent seasons, the Florida-Tennessee showdown has rated as one of college football's top September games. This season's game was pushed back to December following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but its importance has not waned. It marks the seventh consecutive time both teams come into the game ranked in the top 10.
But while Florida and Tennessee have been the SEC's two most successful teams since 1990, the Gators have been a source of constant frustration for Vols Coach Phillip Fulmer. He has won just one of eight meetings with Florida and that came during Tennessee's 1998 national championship season.
The Volunteers have dropped the last seven meetings in Gainesville, dating to 1971.
Tennessee was aided by last week's upsets and has a chance to play in the Rose Bowl should it win its next two games. The Volunteers seek their first seven-game win streak since winning 14 straight from 1998 to 1999.
Florida-Tennessee is one of several games rescheduled for Saturday following the terrorist attacks. Penn State-Virginia, Georgia Tech-Florida State and Arizona-UCLA are among the others.
In Irving, Colorado tries to make amends for a 41-7 loss to the Longhorns on Oct. 20 in which the Buffaloes committed four turnovers and were penalized nine times.
"We're probably playing the best, most talented team in the league," Colorado Coach Gary Barnett said. "While we turned the ball over and did some bad things, they just took it to us."
Colorado is appearing in the Big 12 title game for the first time. While out of the national title chase, the Buffaloes will land a lucrative BCS bowl date with a win.
Texas, appearing in the Big 12 title game for the third time, moved back into the national title chase last week, but would need other teams to lose to make it to Pasadena.
A similar scenario awaits fifth-ranked Oregon (9-1), which is on the perimeter of the national title chase but would need plenty of help. The Ducks, already assured of a BCS date as Pac-10 Conference champions, host archrival Oregon State in the 105th edition of the "Civil War."
Oregon has not played since Nov. 10 while Oregon State last played two weeks ago. Saturday's contest was pushed back to accommodate ABC, which is paying each school $600,000 to televise the game.
No. 7 Brigham Young (11-0) tries to remain unbeaten when it visits Mississippi State on Saturday. BYU climbed to 12th in the latest BCS standings, making it eligible to be considered for a BCS bid. But last week's upsets may have locked the Cougars into the Liberty Bowl against Louisville as champions of the Mountain West Conference.
In Saturday's games involving ranked teams, No. 19 Georgia (7-3) hosts Houston, No. 12 Stanford (8-2) visits San Jose State and No. 21 Fresno State (10-2) entertains Utah State.
The first Saturday in December again will feature the annual Army-Navy game at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
While the teams have combined for just two wins in 19 tries, the game has assumed symbolic importance in light of the United States' military action in Afghanistan. Following graduation next spring, some of the seniors playing in Saturday's game could find themselves fighting the war on terrorism.
