Easily erasing early deficits, LSU and Houston remained the only undefeated teams in major college football.
The top-ranked Tigers fell behind No. 3 Arkansas by 14 points in the second quarter, but took the lead back by halftime and pounded the Razorbacks for a 41-17 victory Saturday in Baton Rouge, which gave LSU the SEC West title.
The Cougars were down by four after a quarter at Tulsa, managed only 13 point in the first half, but ran away from the Golden Hurricane for a 48-16 victory.
Case Keenum and No. 8 Houston clinched the C-USA West title with the victory.
No. 1 LSU 51,
No. 3 Arkansas
BATON ROUGE, La. - Tyrann Mathieu returned a punt 92 yards for a score, LSU punished third-ranked Arkansas with 286 yards rushing, and the top-ranked Tigers secured a spot in the SEC championship game.
Kenny Hilliard, Spencer Ware and Jordan Jefferson all scored on the ground for LSU (12-0, 8-0 SEC), which is 12-0 for the first time and will play No. 13 Georgia next weekend in Atlanta.
A win over the Bulldogs would assure the Tigers their third trip to the BCS title game in nine seasons. Though at this point, LSU might be able to get there even if it loses.
Arkansas took a surprising 14-0 lead on Tyler Wilson's TD pass to Jarius Wright and Alonzo Highsmith's 47-yard fumble return, but LSU stormed back by scoring 41 of the next 44 points in the game.
No. 8 HOUSTON 48,
TULSA 16
Case Keenum threw for 457 yards and five touchdowns, Patrick Edwards had 181 yards receiving and four scores and Houston earned a spot in the Conference USA championship.
The Cougars (12-0, 8-0) set a school season record by winning their 12th game. The 12 straight wins also match the school's longest winning streak, set over the 1990 and '91 seasons.
One more victory in the C-USA championship game on Dec. 3 at home against either Southern Mississippi or Marshall and the Cougars will earn their first BCS bid.
Keenum helped Houston pull away by hooking up with Edwards twice for touchdowns after the Cougars faced a fourth down in no man's land. He found Edwards cutting across the field for a 33-yard score on fourth-and-10 in the second quarter, then threw a deep ball to him for a 38-yard score on fourth-and-1 in the third quarter.
No. 22 NEBRASKA 20, IOWA 7
LINCOLN, Neb. - Rex Burkhead, who started the week with his right foot in a walking boot, ran for 160 yards and a touchdown on a Nebraska-record 38 carries.
Burkhead pounded away at Iowa's defense 4 and 5 yards at a time and looked like his old self after being held to a season-low 36 yards in last week's loss at Michigan.
He had eight carries for 39 yards on a 10-play drive that ended with his 2-yard run and a 20-0 lead early in the fourth quarter.
The Hawkeyes (7-5, 4-4) avoided getting shut out for the first time in 11 years when Marcus Coker scored on a 2-yard run with 3:26 left.
Nebraska (9-3, 5-3) is hoping to land a berth in the Capital One Bowl, if two Big Ten teams are invited to BCS games, or the Outback Bowl.
