Tulsa got an assist from Rice Saturday afternoon to win Conference USA's West Division and clinch a spot in the league's championship game against East Carolina.

With its 38-35 victory at Marshall, combined with the Owls' 56-42 triumph over Houston, the Golden Hurricane (10-2, 7-1 C-USA) earned the right to host the Pirates (8-4, 6-2) in next Saturday's nationally-televised title game (12 p.m., ESPN2).

East Carolina, having already claimed East Division supremacy with a 17-13 win at UAB on Nov. 22, wrapped up its regular season on Friday by trouncing Texas-El Paso 53-21.

Tulsa will be representing the West Division in the title game for the third time since the transformation of C-USA into two eight-team divisions in 2005. The Pirates' East Division championship is their first.

The matchup will be staged at Tulsa's Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium, a 30,000-seat facility that has undergone an extensive renovation since the end of the 2007 season.

The Golden Hurricane has the advantage in the all-time series 5-2. In the most recent meeting, Tulsa traveled to Greenville in 2006 and defeated East Carolina 31-10.

Online ticket information is to be available on the football championship pages of conferenceusa.cstv.com and tulsahurricane.cstv.com.