BCS standings remain the same

Only twice in Bowl Championship Series history has a team been in position to reach the title game heading into the final weekend of the regular season and played its way out.

Southern California and Texas will try to avoid tripping up at the finish line Saturday, the way UCLA did in 1998 and Tennessee in 2001.

As they have been all season, the Trojans and Longhorns were atop the BCS standings Monday. USC is first for the fifth time in six weeks. Texas, which was on top for one week, is second again.

USC (11-0) plays rival UCLA (9-1) at the Coliseum on Saturday. Texas (11-0) will meet Colorado (7-4) in the Big 12 title game at Reliant Stadium in Houston. Both the Longhorns and Trojans are favored by at least three touchdowns, so only a major upset will prevent them for meeting in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 4.

Rutgers in first bowl since 1978

Rutgers is bowl-bound for the first time in 27 years.

A spokesman for the Insight Bowl said the Scarlet Knights accepted an invitation to play in the Dec. 27 game in Phoenix, Ariz.

“They’ve had a great season. It’s a great story,” Insight Bowl spokesman Shawn Schoeffler said.

The last time Rutgers played a bowl game, Jimmy Carter was president. Oddly, the Scarlet Knights will face Arizona State, the same opponent they faced in the 1978 Garden State Bowl. Rutgers lost that game – played at Giants Stadium, not far from its campus – 34-18.

Cutcliffe back with Tennessee

Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer introduced former assistant David Cutcliffe as the school’s new offensive coordinator.

Cutcliffe replaces Randy Sanders, who resigned Oct. 31 during Tennessee’s four-game losing streak. Speculation centered early on Cutcliffe and never wavered, making the announcement mainly a formality.

Cutcliffe, a close friend of Fulmer, was on the Vols’ staff for 17 years and coached such quarterbacks as Peyton Manning and Heath Shuler and then Eli Manning at Mississippi.

Solich drove drunk

Ohio University coach Frank Solich was convicted of drunken driving two days after police spotted him slumped over the wheel of his vehicle.

Solich, in his first season with the Bobcats, pleaded no contest and was ordered to complete a three-day driver intervention program in Athens, Ohio. He had his license suspended for 180 days and was fined $250.

The university, in a statement released before his court appearance, said Solich would remain in charge of the Bobcats as it monitored the case.

Around the country

Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm will miss the rest of the season with a torn ligament in his right knee. Brohm has thrown for 2,883 yards and 19 touchdowns for the No. 16 Cardinals. … Louisville accepted an invitation to represent the Big East Conference in the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. … Toledo will play in the GMAC Bowl on Dec. 21 in Mobile, Ala., against a Conference USA team.

•Mississippi fired offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone after the Rebels finished 111th in the country in offense. … VMI coach Cal McCombs was fired after a 19-60 record over seven seasons with the Division I-AA program. … Boise State accepted an invitation to play in the MPC Computers Bowl on the blue artificial turf of its home stadium. … Texas A&M defensive coordinator Carl Torbush was fired after the Aggies finished 107th in the country in defense.