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Much at stake when Louisville hosts West Virginia on Thursday

Oct 31, 2006 - 9:10 PM No. 3 West Virginia (7-0) at No. 5 Louisville (7-0), 7:30 pm EST

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (Ticker) - For just the second time in the history of the Big East Conference, a pair of top-five teams will meet when No. 5 Louisville hosts No. 3 West Virginia on Thursday in a matchup with national championship implications.

On November 4, 2000, third-ranked Miami beat No. 2 Virginia Tech, 41-21. Both the Hurricanes and Hokies, as well as Boston College, subsequently departed for the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big East was supposed to suffer mightily. But West Virginia and Louisville - plus surprising Rutgers - have picked up the slack.

Of the six remaining unbeaten teams in Division I-A, three reside in the Big East, and the two highest-ranked of those squads will be squaring off at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on Thursday night.

"I think it's kind of neat that we've got two teams in the top 10, three teams in the top 15 and one in Pitt that is right on the cusp," West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez said. "It speaks well for the commitment of the league and the institutions individually."

West Virginia (7-0, 2-0 Big East) and Louisville (7-0, 2-0) are ranked third and fifth, respectively, in the Bowl Championship Series standings, and the winner will get a serious boost to its chances for a spot in the national title game, especially considering either No. 1 Ohio State or No. 2 Michigan will suffer a loss after their November 18 clash in Columbus.

"The rules have been set, the BCS works, and I have no complaints with it," Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. "We're trying to teach our young men to go by the rules and be able to deal with things you don't like and not complain about it. I'm certainly not going to complain about the BCS."

Led by a pair of sophomores, running back Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, West Virginia leads the nation in rushing offense (319 yards per game) and is fourth in total offense (459.29) and fifth in scoring (40.86 points). The Mountaineers have not played since a 37-11 triumph at Connecticut on October 20.

Despite missing starting running back Michael Bush (broken leg) since the opening contest and quarterback Brian Brohm for a pair of games bridging September and October, Louisville ranks second in total offense (496.14) and fifth in scoring (38.71). The Cardinals have been off since a 28-13 win at Syracuse on October 21.

Despite the teams' explosive offenses, neither is poor on the other side of the ball. In fact, both teams rank in the top 10 in scoring defense, with Louisville seventh (12.57) and West Virginia eighth (12.71).

All of which sets up for potentially the best Thursday night game in years. Not that Petrino is buying into the hype.

"When I was coaching at Carroll (Montana) College, Montana Tech was a big game," he said. "When I was at Jacksonville when we played the Titans for the AFC championship, that was a big game. This is just another one of those."