It was just a few short weeks ago that the Houston Cougars needed all kinds of help just to reach the Conference USA championship game, but after having all the pieces fall into place, they get set to take on the East Carolina Pirates for the title.

Houston will not only be facing defending champion East Carolina on Saturday, but the Cougars will also have to square-off with the Pirates in their home Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

NCAA odds makers are still calling the Cougars the favorites in this one. The Vegas line is sitting at, Houston -3 with the total in the contest set at an amazing 70 points. Prognosticators don't expect much defense in Greenville, NC on Saturday.

In last week's rout of Rice, there was not much the Cougars couldn't do on the offensive side of the ball. Case Keenum led Houston to a school-record-tying 59 first-half points and Houston went on to score more points than any major college team this season in the 73-14 victory.

Keenum threw for 323 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another score in the first half to lead the Cougars to the C-USA West division title.

For the Pirates, last week's game went a little differently. East Carolina need a C.J. Wilson returned of a blocked extra point for the tie-breaking defensive two-point conversion to lifted the Pirates past Southern Mississippi 25-20 last Saturday.

With the win, the defending league champions claimed home-field advantage for Saturday's Championship game. I think that will make all the difference in the world.

Take the Pirates getting the 3 points at home.