SALT LAKE CITY — Welcome to the BCS Buster playoffs.

When No. 11 TCU visits No. 10 Utah tonight, the winner is assured of staying alive for at least another week in the Bowl Championship Series sweepstakes.

The loser can start making other postseason plans.

"It's everything you want. It's what you coach for," TCU head coach Gary Patterson said. "Now we are in a situation where you see in three hours who can score one more point."

Most other seasons, the focus on this game would be the Mountain West Conference championship. The Utes (9-0, 5-0) and Horned Frogs (9-1, 6-0) are the only teams left without a league loss and the winner will have the inside track for the outright conference title.

But both teams are also in the Top 12 of the BCS, one of the qualifying benchmarks for the top tier of bowls. The series only hands out one berth to a non-BCS conference school, and with Boise State of the Western Athletic Conference still in contention, a loss at this point would end any hope.

"It's like you have finals and then you've got vacation," Patterson said. "All you think about is you've got to get to finals to get vacation. Vacation is the No. 1 priority, but you know what? Vacation is not going to be a lot of fun if you flunk all your finals."

TCU hasn't flunked anything this season. The Horned Frogs' only loss was 35-10 to Oklahoma, which is respectable considering the sixth-ranked Sooners average almost 50 points per game.

The Frogs have already taken out one potential BCS Buster with a 32-7 win over BYU three weeks ago. TCU held BYU to just 297 yards of offense, including 23 yards rushing.

"They're just tearing it up on defense. I don't know if I've seen a defense play as well as they have," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "You name it, they're doing it on defense. That is very impressive, what they've been able to do."

Utah is the original BCS Buster and is trying to be the first school to sneak in one of the big-money games twice. TCU is trying to be the first to earn a berth despite losing a game.

The speculation about who could be this year's BCS Buster has been building throughout the season, especially after TCU's win over BYU.

Although the BCS bylaws are complicated, Utah's route to getting there is simple. Stay unbeaten and the Utes, who are No. 8 in the BCS standings, can get the automatic berth.

"We control what we can control. Go out and win football games and let the rest take care of itself," quarterback Bryan Johnson said.

TCU has one opponent left after Utah and can clinch at least a share of the MWC title with a win tonight. The Frogs don't play again until they host Air Force on Nov. 22.