PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) - With three weeks left in the season, Rutgers is in the driver's seat in the Big East Conference.

The road is straight for first-year coach Kyle Flood and his program, one that has never won the league.

But if the Scarlet Knights (8-1, 4-0) win their final three games, they will capture the conference crown, a BCS bowl bid and complete a more than a decade-long revival that will see the birthplace of college football rise from a gridiron doormat to elite status.

The final steps won't be easy, though. Rutgers' schedule is back loaded with its three toughest opponents - Cincinnati (7-2, 3-1), Pittsburgh (5-5, 1-4) and No. 20 Louisville (9-1, 4-1), whose loss last week to Syracuse (5-5, 4-2) left the Scarlet Knights alone in first place.