With two weekends remaining, the Big East's bowl scenarios aren't clear, but that could change Saturday.If Virginia Tech (8-2, 4-2) beats Boston College (6-5, 2-4) in Blacksburg, Va., the Hokies are headed to the Gator Bowl. Virginia Tech, despite losses to Pitt and West Virginia, might be the Big East's highest-ranked team at the end of the season, they travel well and they are the Gator Bowl's top choice.

A win against the Eagles also would assure the Hokies of finishing no worse than one game behind the second-place team and that makes them eligible for the Gator Bowl.

That assumes, of course, that Pitt and Miami can handle Temple and Rutgers this weekend. And that also, would mean the match between the Hurricanes and Panthers next Saturday at Heinz Field would be for the conference's BCS berth.

If Pitt beats Temple and loses to Miami, it will most likely head to Charlotte, N.C., for the Continental Tire Bowl.

The odd team out under this and almost every other scenario would be West Virginia (6-4, 4-1), which could finish the conference season 6-1 for the second consecutive year and get left out of its top two bowl spots. West Virginia would head to Phoenix for the Insight Bowl or San Francisco for the San Francisco Bowl.

It should be pointed out, although West Virginia would feel snubbed, college football is and always has been based on the entire body of work, not one or two weeks. And the Mountaineers have lost four games, including to Cincinnati at home.

The bowl which doesn't get West Virginia will get Boston College (6-5, 2-4), Syracuse (5-4, 2-3) or Notre Dame (4-6), but of those three teams only Boston College already has the six wins required to be bowl eligible.

Syracuse and Notre Dame play Dec. 6, so one is guaranteed at least one more win.

West Virginia's best bet for a New Year's Day bowl -- and this should make Mountaineers fans cringe -- is if Boston College were to defeat Virginia Tech. Under that scenario, the Mountaineers, assuming they win out, would pull two games ahead of the Hokies in the standings and make the Hokies ineligible for the Gator.

If Virginia Tech fell from the Gator Bowl, they would likely knock Pitt to San Francisco.

So, in essence, West Virginia fans must root for Boston College -- a team they don't like because of the way they handled their exit from the Big East -- this weekend. Pitt has little chance at the Gator. The Panthers would need West Virginia to lose to Syracuse and Virginia Tech to lose its final two games to be considered.

Miami is an interesting team because, outside of the BCS, no bowls want them. They don't travel well, and their fans seem to lose interest when they aren't playing in one of the major bowls.

Perhaps, the biggest loser is Connecticut (9-3), which finished its season by whipping Wake Forest, 51-7, in Winston-Salem, N.C. Had there only been four Big East teams bowl-eligible for the five spots, the conference would have pushed the Huskies, who will join the league next year, for the fifth spot.

Now they'll likely be home for the holidays unless there is a spot that opens up because another conference can't fill its allotted slots.

Career achievers

Pitt quarterback Rod Rutherford and receiver Larry Fitzgerald are climbing several of the conference's career record lists, but they aren't the only ones.

Rutherford is fourth in career touchdown passes (54), and Fitzgerald is first in career touchdown receptions (31).

Rutgers standout Nate Jones is No. 3 all-time in kickoff return yards (1,791). West Virginia's Grant Wiley has 435 career tackles, which is fourth, and Boston College's Derrick Knight has rushed for 3,406 yards, which is also fourth.

Need a boost

Harsh reality No. 1: The "new" Big East -- Cincinnati, South Florida, Louisville, Pitt, WVU, Syracuse, Rutgers, Connecticut -- has one team, No. 25 Pitt, ranked among the BCS Top 25.

Harsh reality No. 2: The Mid-American has two teams, No. 20 Bowling Green and No. 12 Miami (Ohio), ranked in the BCS top 25.