Florida got the best news it could possibly hope for.
Win out, and the Gators could find themselves playing for college football's national championship Jan. 8 in Glendale, Ariz. Undefeated Rutgers' 28-25 upset of No. 3 Louisville on Thursday night put the Gators -- and the rest of college football's big-name once-beatens -- squarely back in the running to play for the championship, likely against the winner of next weekend's showdown between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Michigan. Louisville (9-1) entered Thursday's game holding the all-important third spot in the BCS standings, one spot ahead of Florida (8-1). If the Cardinals had remained unbeaten, they could have been the ones in Glendale. Now, it might be Florida. Or No. 5 Texas (9-1). Or No. 6 Auburn (9-1). Southern Cal (7-1) is back in the race. So are Cal (8-1), Notre Dame (8-1), West Virginia (7-1), Arkansas (8-1), maybe even the Michigan-Ohio State loser. And then there's Rutgers, 9-0 with a big test still to come Dec. 2 at West Virginia.