The New England Patriots have set another standard during their thus-far perfect season: biggest favorite in a road game. The Patriots (11-0) are 20-point favorites at Baltimore (4-7). The previous high was 17 points, set in 1976 with Dallas over Seattle; the Baltimore Colts over the New York Jets; and Patriots over Tampa Bay, according to World Features Syndicate, which publishes the Glantz-Culver line. There was a bigger spread for a road-team favorite in a 1987 replacement game. San Francisco was installed a 23-point favorite at Atlanta, according to Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Connecticut accepted a bid Tuesday to play in the Meineke Bowl on Dec. 29 against an Atlantic Coast Conference team. The Huskies were selected over Cincinnati as the Big East's representative for the game, which will be played at Bank of America Stadium. The ACC team is not expected to be named until after Saturday's conference championship game. Wake Forest and Maryland are the leading contenders. The Huskies are coming off their best season since moving up to the top level of college football six years ago. UConn (9-3, 5-2 Big East) had a chance to win the conference title and capture the league's Bowl Championship Series berth until Saturday's 66-21 loss at West Virginia in their regular season finale. It will be Connecticut's second bowl appearance. The Huskies beat Toledo 39-10 in the 2004 Motor City Bowl.

Pick a streak. Any streak. If it's bad, the Oakland Raiders may have just snapped it. Getting 139 yards rushing from Justin Fargas and a big defensive stop on fourth down, the Raiders handed the reeling Kansas City Chiefs a 20-17 defeat Sunday that ended three different kinds of football failure. Until those final seconds ticked away, the Raiders had lost 17 straight AFC West games. They'd dropped nine in a row to Kansas City. And, they'd also lost six straight overall.

The Patriots clinched the AFC East title even before they played the Eagles on Sunday night. Buffalo's 36-14 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars meant New England has won the division for the fourth consecutive year. The Patriots are the fourth team since 1978 to clinch a division title during the weekend of their 11th game, joining the 1985 Bears, the '97 49ers, and the 2004 Eagles.

Missouri and West Virginia have one more step to take before bumping into each other in New Orleans. The Tigers and Mountaineers hold the top two spots in the Bowl Championship Series standings released Sunday with a week left in a topsy-turvy regular season. The Tigers play Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game at San Antonio on Saturday, and the Mountaineers face rival Pittsburgh at home. If both win, it'll be Missouri-West Virginia in a most unlikely BCS championship game Jan. 7 at the Superdome.

Of all the great players and great teams the Cowboys have had, Tony Romo, Terrell Owens and the 2007 club are the first to start 10-1. And if 10-1 Green Bay wasn't up next, the Cowboys might be able to savor such an accomplishment. "We're grateful for it and we made history, but it doesn't end there," Owens said. "We know there's more football left this season." Dallas kept the stakes up for the next big matchup next Thursday night with a 34-3 victory over the Jets on Thursday that was as lopsided as it seems.

The New England Patriots, who have outscored opponents by an average of 25.4 points during their 10-0 start, can become the first National Football League team to clinch a playoff berth this weekend. The Patriots opened a five-game lead on Buffalo in the American Football Conference's East Division with their 56-10 win over the Bills two days ago. New England can clinch a sixth postseason berth in seven years with a home win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 25, the NFL said. The Patriots, who have won three Super Bowl titles in the past six seasons, would also become the first team to wrap up a playoff spot if the Bills lose at Jacksonville.

Notre Dame's freshmen made sure the Fighting Irish seniors wouldn't go their final season without a victory at home. Jimmy Clausen threw for 194 yards and three touchdowns; Robert Hughes ran for 110 yards and a touchdown; Duval Kamara had a touchdown catch; and the Notre Dame defense came within 72 seconds of its first shutout in five years as the Irish beat Duke 28-7 Saturday. "It's like a weight has been lifted," Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis said. "I feel happy, especially for the seniors."

Another late deficit, another stunning comeback for Matt Ryan and Boston College (No. 17 BCS, No. 18 AP). Three games after Ryan led the Eagles to an improbable 14-10 win at Virginia Tech, he found Rich Gunnell for a 43-yard TD with 1:46 to go for a 20-17 win over No. 15 Clemson. "We practice in these situations a lot, and we've done a pretty good job of executing," Ryan said. "It was a great win, exciting, a lot of fun, and we're glad to walk out with the win." And a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference's title game in two weeks. "We know we're there which is a very good thing," Ryan said.

Tyler Lorenzen threw for 213 yards and a touchdown and No. 25 Connecticut beat Syracuse 30-7 to stay in sole possession of first place in the Big East. The Huskies (9-2, 5-1 Big East) can win their first conference title with a victory at West Virginia next week. UConn finished 7-0 at home, only the second Big East team to do that. West Virginia was the other in 1993. UConn's tailback tandem of Donald Brown and Andre Dixon combined for 151 yards rushing and two scores. The Huskies jumped to an early 21-0 lead and were never really challenged by the Orange (2-9, 1-5).