Houston and Rice are playing for the 35th time Saturday, and this battle for the Bayou Bucket may be the most meaningful.

The Cougars and Owls face off at Rice Stadium in a game that will at least help determine the West Division champion and the host in the Conference USA championship game.

The 3:30 p.m. contest will take place simultaneously with Tulsa's game at Marshall. Houston, Rice and Tulsa are tied for the West lead at 6-1, but the Cougars control their destiny by virtue of their recent 70-30 domination of the Golden Hurricane.

A Rice victory reopens the door for Tulsa, a 151/2-point favorite against the Thundering Herd Saturday. The Owls (8-3 overall) need to beat Houston and get help from Marshall to take the West title.

Facing long odds is nothing new for Rice, which is just 9-25 against Houston and has lost three in a row. But the Owls are riding a five-game winning streak and even more momentum after their 35-10 victory over Marshall.

"I thought our game against Marshall on Saturday was our most complete effort of the season," said Rice coach David Bailiff. "The offense started slow, but it was nice that our defense played a great first half. Our special teams improved in all phases. In the second half, that offense came to life.

"It's a tribute to the seniors that we have on this football team. They knew they underachieved in the first half [played to a 7-7 tie], and the second half was what I thought the Rice offense was capable of. Chase [Clement, the quarterback] made great decisions. In the huddle, he was like I've never seen him and I think the players really responded."

Houston (7-4 overall) has won three straight after its late-October setback at Marshall, but the Cougars were nearly derailed last week by Texas-El Paso.

The finish of that contest was wild, even by C-USA standards. The Cougars scored 26 fourth-quarter points to erase a 28-16 deficit, but that wasn't the whole story.

Houston took its first lead, 36-35, on a Case Keenum touchdown pass with 4:54 left, and opted for a two-point conversion. But Keenum threw an interception, which UTEP's Josh Ferguson returned the other way to give the Miners a 37-36 lead.

No problem for Keenum. After the Miners were stopped with a three-and-out, the sophomore drove the Cougars 59 yards in nine plays, scoring the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard run with 41 seconds left.

"It was an exciting game, but believe me I would rather them all not be like that," said Houston coach Kevin Sumlin.

The West champ will have a 7-1 league mark, which will be better than East Carolina's 6-2 or 5-3. In C-USA, the team with the best conference record serves as host in the title game.

Rice freshman defensive back Travis Bradshaw was named the league's defensive player of the week for his efforts last weekend against Marshall.

Houston and Rice are playing for the 35th time Saturday, and this battle for the Bayou Bucket may be the most meaningful.

The Cougars and Owls face off at Rice Stadium in a game that will at least help determine the West Division champion and the host in the Conference USA championship game.

The 3:30 p.m. contest will take place simultaneously with Tulsa's game at Marshall. Houston, Rice and Tulsa are tied for the West lead at 6-1, but the Cougars control their destiny by virtue of their recent 70-30 domination of the Golden Hurricane.

A Rice victory reopens the door for Tulsa, a 151/2-point favorite against the Thundering Herd Saturday. The Owls (8-3 overall) need to beat Houston and get help from Marshall to take the West title.

Facing long odds is nothing new for Rice, which is just 9-25 against Houston and has lost three in a row. But the Owls are riding a five-game winning streak and even more momentum after their 35-10 victory over Marshall.

"I thought our game against Marshall on Saturday was our most complete effort of the season," said Rice coach David Bailiff. "The offense started slow, but it was nice that our defense played a great first half. Our special teams improved in all phases. In the second half, that offense came to life.

"It's a tribute to the seniors that we have on this football team. They knew they underachieved in the first half [played to a 7-7 tie], and the second half was what I thought the Rice offense was capable of. Chase [Clement, the quarterback] made great decisions. In the huddle, he was like I've never seen him and I think the players really responded."

Houston (7-4 overall) has won three straight after its late-October setback at Marshall, but the Cougars were nearly derailed last week by Texas-El Paso.

The finish of that contest was wild, even by C-USA standards. The Cougars scored 26 fourth-quarter points to erase a 28-16 deficit, but that wasn't the whole story.

Houston took its first lead, 36-35, on a Case Keenum touchdown pass with 4:54 left, and opted for a two-point conversion. But Keenum threw an interception, which UTEP's Josh Ferguson returned the other way to give the Miners a 37-36 lead.

No problem for Keenum. After the Miners were stopped with a three-and-out, the sophomore drove the Cougars 59 yards in nine plays, scoring the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard run with 41 seconds left.

"It was an exciting game, but believe me I would rather them all not be like that," said Houston coach Kevin Sumlin.

The West champ will have a 7-1 league mark, which will be better than East Carolina's 6-2 or 5-3. In C-USA, the team with the best conference record serves as host in the title game.

Rice freshman defensive back Travis Bradshaw was named the league's defensive player of the week for his efforts last weekend against Marshall.

A former walk-on who plays the "Kat" position, Bradshaw was credited with 11 tackles, a fumble recovery and a pass break-up in the Owls' 35-10 victory over the Thundering Herd. He helped a defense that limited the Herd to 268 total yards, the lowest total Rice has yielded since it held Houston to 221 in the 2004 season opener.

Keenum (480 passing yards) and Tulsa's Tarrion Adams (323 rushing yards) shared the offensive honor with UTEP punter Kyle Peterson taking the special teams award.

Bradshaw is the third player to win C-USA defensive honors against Marshall, joining UAB linebacker Joe Henderson and East Carolina cornerback Emanuel Davis. ECU kicker Ben Hartman won a special-teams weekly honor against the Herd.

East Carolina didn't exactly wrap up its division title in style. Much like Marshall several weeks earlier, the Pirates stunk it up before a small crowd (announced at 11,453) at Birmingham's Legion Field.

But the Pirates drove 55 yards for a late touchdown and a 17-13 victory over Alabama-Birmingham. Linebacker Pierre Bell's interception sealed a game the Pirates won despite two interceptions and three lost fumbles.

"Some people call it winning ugly; I do consider five turnovers ugly," said coach Skip Holtz. "And the expression it's an ugly baby but it's ours is true. We're living it up right now with where we're going and I'm really proud of what this team has accomplished."

The Pirates (7-4, 5-2) play UTEP (5-6, 4-3) today, and will attempt to win eight games in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1999-2000. A big question: Will Holtz head for a higher-profile job after the season.

He was lobbied on that issue this week from Miners coach Mike Price.

"I wouldn't feel bad at all if he left to take a job at Clemson or another place and we got him out of the league," Price said, "because he has done a good job and he'll continue to do a good job at that school."

ECU and the three West leaders have locked up bowl berths. Two openings remain, with three teams alive.

UTEP and Memphis (5-6, 3-4) both whiffed on their chance to become bowl-eligible last week. The Tigers, who lost to Central Florida, get another chance at home against Tulane. Southern Mississippi (5-6, 3-4) is the other team with a shot, and the Golden Eagles play defensively challenged, 1-10 Southern Methodist.

Should all three 5-6 teams pull out victories, that would make seven eligible teams. C-USA's backup arrangement to fill the Hawaii Bowl could well come into play, as the Pac-10 may not be able to fill the spot opposite the Western Athletic Conference.

Reach Doug Smock at 348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com.