As part of BCS Know How’s 2010 college football season preview, we will be breaking down each week’s most important games that could have BCS and postseason implications in the “Road to Glendale 2011″.

Let’s move on to a jam-packed week ten filled with huge matchups around the country.

Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech: Thursday Nov. 4, 7:30 p.m. ET

Despite losing four marquee names from the team that won the ACC title last season, Georgia Tech seems primed to make another run at the conference crown in 2010.

However, standing squarely in their way are the Hokies of Virginia Tech. Shut out of the ACC Championship Game last season, the Hokies are the prohibitive favorite in the 12-team conference and will start the season ranked among the best in the nation.

Both teams have simple conference schedules before this game and could very easily be undefeated in the ACC when the square off for a Thursday night battle in Blacksburg.

The Hokies will be hoping that the game will serve as a sort of passing of the guard from the Yellow Jackets to themselves, as a win here could send either on the fast track to the ACC Coastal Division crown and a berth in the 2010 ACC Championship Game.

The game could also be an opportunity for both teams’ quarterbacks — the Hokies’ Tyrod Taylor and Yellow Jackets’ Josh Nesbitt — to state their case for ACC Offensive Player of the Year, as both will be preseason favorites for the award.

TCU at Utah: Saturday Nov. 6, 3:30 p.m. ET

What has become an annual conference battle that oftentimes tops the pressure and excitement of some BCS conference rivalries will make its final appearance in 2010 as Utah is headed to the Pac-10 in 2011.

And there’s no doubt — this rivalry could go out with a bang in 2010.

Both teams have high aspirations this year, conference championship and a BCS bowl game bid included, however this game might end up being an elimination style battle for both opportunities.

TCU quarterback Andy Dalton will look to pick apart a young Utes defense that only returns four of its 11 starters from the 2009 team that finished 10-3. Utah will counter with Jordan Wynn, who started 2009 on the bench but took over for Terrance Cain midway through the season.

Alabama at LSU: Saturday Nov. 6, 8:00 p.m. ET

For a preseason national title favorite, the Alabama Crimson Tide will have a terribly difficult time returning to the BCS National Championship Game with the caliber of opponents on their schedule.

Week ten will be no different for the Tide, as they head to Baton Rouge to face off against the Tigers of LSU in another classic SEC matchup.

By now you know the story of the defending champion Crimson Tide — returning most of the core that brought them their first national championship in 2009 since 1992.

The Tigers are looking to improve upon an underwhelming nine-win season in ’09 with a team full of potential, but a schedule that could prove daunting for a team that will rely on a defense that only returns four starters and an unsure quarterback situation.

Both teams could be undefeated when the early November meet up occurs, or they could both have two losses — the SEC schedule is that tough and unpredictable. But no matter what the records are when the game rolls around, you can definitely expect fireworks and high quality football.

Washington at Oregon: Saturday Nov. 6, TBA

Depending on who you ask, any of four (or even five) teams seem to hold the preseason position as Pac-10 favorite for 2010.

Both Washington and Oregon are among those teams, and when they meet up for this Pacific Northwest battle in week ten, both will likely be gunning for a Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl bid.

Yet, despite both receiving some preseason national praise, the quarterback situations in Eugene and Seattle could not be more different.

Washington returns preseason Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year favorite Jake Locker after the senior quarterback decided to forgo the NFL draft and stay with the Huskies one final year. The Ducks, on the other hand, lost their star quarterback Jeremiah Masoli after he was kicked off the team and transferred to Ole Miss.

Offense will be a key in this matchup, as Locker will be tested against an experienced and skilled Ducks defense while the Ducks will contend with a less than spectacular Washington defense — which has especially large holes at defensive line and in the secondary.

Arkansas at South Carolina: Saturday Nov. 6, TBA

If the Alabama-LSU matchup is the game of the week in the SEC, this battle is a close second.

Both teams finished distant fourth places in their respective SEC divisions in 2009, but look to 2010 as a year to break out and make some real noise in the nation’s toughest conference.

South Carolina is looking to take advantage of an unusually open East Division in the SEC and make a surprise run at the SEC Championship Game and will need quarterback Stephen Garcia and the offense to perform at a high level to have a shot.

Arkansas has a Heisman hopeful in quarterback Ryan Mallett and could be a surprise contender in the West Division if they can survive a daunting early-season schedule.

As part of BCS Know How’s 2010 college football season preview, we will be breaking down each week’s most important games that could have BCS and postseason implications in the “Road to Glendale 2011″.

We start today with the opening slate of games during week one.

TCU vs. Oregon State

Saturday September 4 7:45 PM ET

Both of these teams start the 2010 campaign with high hopes both looking to build upon 2009 seasons that came to somewhat disappointing ends.

Oregon State was a Civil War victory away from a Pac-10 championship and a BCS bowl berth, and TCU lost a very close Fiesta Bowl to their BCS-buster nemesis Boise State, and were unable to claim the title of best non-BCS school for 2009.

The matchup between the Horned Frogs and Beavers on the season’s first weekend might set the tone for making that next step for either program.

Each a year more experienced and have great expectations coming into the season, however both teams lost key contributors to their 2009 season — the Beavers losing QB Sean Canfield and the Horned Frogs losing AP All-American DE Jerry Hughes. Neither Hughes nor Canfield can be easily replaced, yet many expect both squads to compete all season.

The first step in all of that would be starting the season 1-0.

Navy vs. Maryland

Monday September 6 4 PM ET

Okay yes, Maryland is unlikely to challenge for an ACC Championship this season, and this could turn out to be a blowout, but this game could set the tone for a Navy 2010 season that could be among the best in program history.

A 10-4 squad in 2009, the Midshipmen return most of their skill players including triple-option master QB Ricky Dobbs looking to extend themselves into another 10-win season and possibly a strong national ranking to round out the season.

And who knows? Maybe a BCS bowl bid could be in their future.

Boise State vs. Virginia Tech

Monday September 6 8 PM ET

Every year it seems Boise State is in a position to make some BCS noise. But 2010 could be a truly special year for the boys of the blue turf.

Boise starts the season highly touted and ranked, along with the skill to warrant the high praise. The Broncos aren’t just thinking 10-win seasons or BCS bowls — they’re thinking BCS National Championship Game in Glendale in 2011.

And if they want to make that a reality, they’ll have to start with a strong victory over ACC title-favorite Virginia Tech.

The Hokies, a perennial ACC power and defending conference champions return a ton of talent led by dual-threat QB Tyrod Taylor, who gives the best of defenses fits on a regular basis. Can Boise hang with “Beamer Ball” defense and special teams and score enough to make the contributions of Taylor and running back Ryan Williams irrelevant?

This is ninth in a series of conference profiles as part of BCS Know How’s season preview. Today’s conference is the Mountain West Conference.

Conference: Mountain West Conference (MWC)

Active Since: 1999

Current Member Schools: Air Force Falcons, Brigham Young (BYU) Cougars, Colorado State Rams, New Mexico Lobos, San Diego State Aztecs, Texas Christian (TCU) Horned Frogs, UNLV Rebels, Utah Utes, Wyoming Cowboys. (9)

Bowl Affiliations: New Mexico Bowl, Las Vegas Bowl, Poinsettia Bowl, Independence Bowl, Armed Forces Bowl. (5)

2009 Results:
Conference Champion – TCU
Conference Runner-up – BYU
Overall Bowl Record: 4-1 (Bowl Challenge Cup Champion)
AP All-Americans: TCU DE Jerry Hughes (1st team), BYU TE Dennis Pitta (2nd)

2010 Outlook: Three top-25 teams, a BCS bowl bid and a Bowl Challenge championship. Sounds like a BCS conference right?

Actually, it was the 2009 edition of the Mountain West Conference, a conference that in the past few years has been able to produce not only some of the best non-BCS conference action, but also has seemingly mastered the role of BCS-buster, submitting three teams — TCU last season and Utah in two other seasons — to the BCS.

2010 finds the MWC at an all-time high, coming off one of its best seasons and returning most of the skill that helped the conference make so much noise last year. Of course, any conversation about a repeat of last year has to begin with TCU, who not only made their way to a Fiesta Bowl bid, but also finished fourth in the final BCS standings, the highest ever finish for a non-BCS school.

The Horned Frogs return star quarterback Andy Dalton and most of the explosive offense that averaged nearly 40 points per game last season. And despite losing 1st-team All-American DE Jerry Hughes, the Frogs’ defense returns seven of 11 starters. However, the schedule looks quite daunting for the Frogs, with games at SMU and Utah plus visits from Oregon State and Baylor looming.

If TCU is to falter anywhere along the line, Utah is poised to retake control of the conference and can easily make their way to another BCS bowl. The Utes take on two tough BCS opponents, the Big East’s Pittsburgh and independent Notre Dame, along with tests against TCU and BYU. If they can make their way through that schedule unscathed, it would be hard to refuse the Utes a BCS bid.

Although the conference has been the domain of the Utes and Frogs these past few seasons the conference has quietly become strong from top to bottom, and any of a variety of teams could challenge the two for conference bragging rights.

BYU, who toppled both Sam Bradford and Oklahoma early in 2009, finished 11-2 last year and looked as strong as any MWC team, will compete again despite losing QB Max Hall to the pros. Air Force and Wyoming looked revived in ’09 and are poised to continue improving in 2010. Wyoming’s young gun Austyn Carta-Samuels could challenge Dalton as the conference’s player of the year and could make some early noise against BCS schools like Texas and Boise State.

Its not a surprise to find a strong Mountain West anymore, but the depth of the conference this season could go a long way towards solidifying its spot among the Football Bowl Subdivision elite, and even a BCS automatic bid somewhere down the line when the board reviews the automatic qualifiers in 2012.

2010 Heisman Hopefuls: TCU QB Andy Dalton, Wyoming QB Austyn Carta-Samuels

BCS Know How’s 2010 Predictions:
Conference Champion – TCU (11-1, 8-0)
Conference Runner-up – Utah (10-2, 7-1)
Heisman Finalists: None

Boise State’s defense shut down Andy Dalton and the TCU Horned Frogs while the Broncos did just enough on offense to win their second Fiesta Bowl in four years, 17-10.

Going into the game, the key matchup everyone was watching was the vaunted TCU defense against a dynamic and explosive Boise State offense. Those two unit neutralized one another, and it was left up to the other side of the ball for both teams to decide this one.

The Horned Frog’s offense was no slouch this season, but the Broncos were able to hold TCU down just long enough to come out of Arizona with a win.

In this matchup of two undefeated non-BCS conference schools, both would have liked to have been included in the national title discussion, but the Fiesta Bowl was the best they could have hoped for.

In TCU’s first-ever BCS bowl, Gary Patterson’s squad looked uneven from the start, as Dalton was intercepted three times.

After the Broncos scored the game’s first ten points, Dalton finally led the Horned Frogs offense to some points, connecting with Curtis Clay for a 30-yard score.

The third quarter was uneventful, however the Horned Frogs did finally tie up the game after a short field goal near the end of the quarter was good.

The biggest play of the game came after the teams had traded punts and Boise seemed to be punting one more time after another failed drive.

But the Broncos rose to national prominence on the strength of the trick plays that got them the Fiesta Bowl crown in 2007, and they used those “gadget” plays one more time, this time on a fake punt.

After the Bronco punted completed a pass for the first down, it was only a matter of time before Broncos quarterback Kellen Moore led his team down the field, and finished the drive off by handing the ball to running back Doug Martin, who finished the drive with a TD run, giving the Broncos the game-winning score.

A late drive from Dalton and the Frogs came up empty after a tipped pass was intercepted for the third and final time by the Boise defense, capping the victory for the Broncos.

The BCS Bowl matchups have been announced and are as follows:

Winners in RED

Rose Bowl – January 1^st 2010

Oregon Ducks 17 vs. Ohio State 26 F

FULL PREVIEW

Comment: We’ve known this matchup for a while, and this may be the best game on the slate of BCS bowl games when all is said and done. Oregon comes into the game as one of the nation’s hottest teams after clinching the Pac-10’s BCS bid in their “Civil War” against Oregon State. Ohio State hasn’t played in quite some time, but the Buckeyes are used to taking long breaks between their final game and their bowl game due to the early end to the Big 10 schedule.

Sugar Bowl – January 1^st 2010

Florida Gators 51 vs. Cincinnati Bearcats 24 F

FULL PREVIEW

Comment: All season the goal for Florida was to repeat as National Champions. The Gators will not get a chance to do that after losing in the SEC Championship Game, but they still receive a bid to the Sugar Bowl to face off against the Cincinnati Bearcats. The Bearcats come off a last minute comeback victory against Pittsburgh which secured the Big East crown for Cincinnati. This will be the Bearcats second straight BCS bowl game.

Fiesta Bowl – January 4^th 2010

Boise State Broncos 17 vs. TCU Horned Frogs 10 F

FULL PREVIEW

Comment: For the first time in the history of the BCS, TCU is headed to a BCS bowl game. Also a first, two non-BCS schools have received BCS bowl bids. The two teams ran through their seasons without much competition, completing undefeated seasons and winning their conferences. This might as well be considered as the non-BCS National Title game and is sure to be a shootout.

Orange Bowl – January 5^th 2010

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 14 vs. Iowa Hawkeyes 24 F

FULL PREVIEW

Comment: The ACC Champion Yellow Jackets and the Big 10 corunner-up Iowa Hawkeyes meet in Florida to decide the Orange Bowl champ. Georgia Tech needed to hold of CJ Spiller and the Clemson Tigers to get the ACC’s automatic BCS bowl bid as the conference champion. Iowa gets one of the BCS’s four at-large bid mainly on the strength of their early season success, which led to the Hawkeyes best season in a few years and a BCS bowl bid for the first time since 2003.

BCS National Championship Game – January 7^th 2010

FULL PREVIEW

Alabama Crimson Tide 37 vs. Texas Longhorns 21 F

Comment: The nation’s two best teams according to the BCS are the Tide and Longhorns, and the two will meet in Pasadena to figure out just who is the best in the nation. The Tide clinched their spot here with a victory over Florida in the SEC Championship Game, while Texas needed a field goal with all zeros on the clock in the Big 12 Championship Game to secure their spot here. Both teams have struggled at times during the season, but did just enough to finish the season undefeated and make their way to the National Title Game.

BCS Know How will have full previews of these games in the coming days. Stay tuned!