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Last week provided a handful of highly anticipated matchups between top 25 college football programs, with five games featuring a pair of ranked teams going head-to-head. This Saturday seems to be lacking in that category. Among the best games slated for the weekend: No. 13 Penn State at Michigan, Oklahoma at No. 25 Kansas, No. 3 Texas at Missouri, and Oregon State at No. 7 USC. Not exactly a power lineup.

But, for college football fiends, all eyes should be on the small town of Provo, Utah on Saturday night. Frankly, if the game was happening in a conference with BCS Bowl affiliations, you’d probably have heard all about it by now. The matchup?

No. 8 TCU at No. 16 BYU.

Maybe not the long-standing rivalry or storied programs most college football slugfests boast, but these two are serious. And for Gary Patterson’s undefeated TCU team, it’s a chance to make a statement.

It’s been nearly a year since TCU lost their last game, a heart-breaking 13-10 defeat at Utah last November that wasn’t decided until a Utes touchdown with 48 seconds to go. For those who’ve forgotten, that Utah team was the only one in the FBS to finish undefeated last year after clobbering Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

The Horned Frogs’ only other loss of 2008 also came on the road. The Oklahoma Sooners, who went on to play in the BCS National Championship game, handled TCU 35-10 last September, but the Frogs tallied 11 wins in 2008, including a pair of games against top ten opponents. One of those opponents was BYU.

Since joining the Mountain West Conference in 2005, TCU is 2-2 against the Cougars, with both games in Provo being decided by 5 points or less. Last year, a then-unranked Horned Frogs team destroyed no. 9 BYU 32-7 in Fort Worth’s Amon Carter Stadium. This year, the tables are turned, with BYU carrying a loss into the matchup and TCU hoping to keep their BCS hopes alive.

Gary Patterson’s teams are known for their defense, and despite losing seven starters from last year’s unit, 2009 has been no exception. The Frogs defense is 3rd in the nation in yards per game, and can defend through the air or on the ground with equal effectiveness, ranking 8th against the run and 9th against the pass. They’ve also got one of the highest sack totals in the country, tying Penn State and Ohio State for 6th with 21 sacks, which could come in handy against Max Hall and the BYU passing attack.

But the offense has taken major strides for TCU over the last two years, and the Horned Frogs have managed to maintain their success after seeing a jump of nearly a touchdown per game from 2007 to 2008. Gary Patterson’s run-heavy offense is normally focused on limiting mistakes and letting the defense wins games. And while nearly 70 percent of TCU’s plays in 2009 have been runs, junior quarterback Andy Dalton is having by far the most efficient season of his three-year career. He’s completing 65.5 percent of his passes, blowing away his career average of 59.6 percent, and he’s also on pace for career-highs in touchdown passes, QB efficiency rating, and yards per attempt.

On the ground, they’ve got four players with at least 200 rushing yards for the season, including Dalton. Senior Joseph Turner is the feature back, rushing for 399 yards and seven touchdowns on 77 carries, but freshmen Matthew Tucker and Ed Wesley have combined for 496 yards as well.

As a whole, the TCU offense ranks 16th in scoring (33.8 points per game), 22nd in total offense (431.0 yards per game), and 11th in rushing (225.0 yards per game). It’s still a team known for its defense, but the offense can carry its weight.

The Horned Frogs are hoping to earn their first ever BCS Bowl bid, which could be difficult with another potential buster, no. 4 Boise State, already ahead of them in the rankings and facing an easy schedule the rest of the way. But there are those that think that, should TCU go undefeated, they would jump ahead of the Broncos based on strength of schedule. Their most impressive win thus far came on the road against 3 and 3 Clemson, but the schedule is about to pick up for the Frogs with two games in four weeks against top 25 opponents.

And though the Horned Frogs might be new to the limelight, they’re not new to success. TCU went 22-3 from 2005-06, and after an 8-5 season in 2007, they rebounded with 11 wins last year. So far, they’re 6-0 in 2009. They’ll go for seven on Saturday.