The Louisville Cardinals and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights face off this weekend in the de facto Big East championship game. Though a Louisville win will force a three-way tie in conference standings, the Cardinals would still earn the automatic BCS bid due to tiebreakers. The Scarlet Knights can earn that BCS berth outright with a victory.

Kickoff: 7:30pm EST

Television: ESPN

Series: Rutgers leads 7-4

Series Since That One Game In 2006, You Know Which One We’re Talking About: Louisville leads 3-2
Last Meeting: October 21, 2011, Louisville 16, Rutgers 14

Line, just in case you want to know who is favored, not because you are betting on this game, right?: Rutgers -3

Rutgers played their worst game of the season last Saturday, scoring only six points against Pittsburgh — a far cry from perhaps their best game of the year, a 35-26 win at Arkansas in September. The Scarlet Knights have scored a combined 16 points in their last two games. Running back Jawan Jamison struggled in both games, getting single-digit carries in both. For the season, Jamison has rushed for 1,004 yards. 

Louisville, who is coming off a two week losing streak, is led by quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Bridgewater is expected to play despite breaking his hand in last week’s loss to Connecticut. Running backs Jeremy Wright and Senorise Perry may take some of the load on offense to keep Bridgewater healthy. 

Stat That Makes It Sound Like Louisville Should Win: Teddy Bridgewater is completing nearly 69 percent of his passes for over 3,000 yards and 23 touchdowns this past year.

Stat That Makes It Sound Like Rutgers Should Win: The Scarlet Knights are about as good as it gets with their defense, allowing only 317 yards per game and less than a 37 percent conversion rate on third down. Rutgers has the home field advantage.