Unless you've been living on another planet and just barely returned, you know what this week is.

Every year, Utah-BYU football is the most anticipated game of the year, regardless of each team's record. It's called a war by some folks, even a certain kind of war (which I get a little weary of, so I won't mention it).

But this year is different. Never before in the long history of the rivalry have the stakes been higher. A BCS berth is on the line for Utah and possibly for BYU if things break just right.

Without getting into any discussion of who has the best long snapper or best nickel back or which team will be more motivated — we have all week for that — the following are a few fun facts about the rivalry to get your week started: • If you don't count 1937 when each team was 1-0 going into the annual game, the two teams' combined record of 21-1 this year is the best ever heading into the big game — but not by much. In 2001, Gary Crowton's first year, the two teams were a combined 17-2 going into the game.

• The most common score in the rivalry is not 34-31 as some fans might assume. It's actually 27-0, a score Utah won by in 1925 and 1957 and BYU won by in 1979.

• The lowest-scoring game in the series, aside from the 3-0 Ute victory in 2003, was the 0-0 tie in 1928, one of four ties in the series (for you younger folks, yes, they actually used to have tie games).

• Only twice in the past 40 years have both teams come into the game with losing records. Coincidentally, both games featured the final game for one of the coaches, who emerged victorious in both cases. In 2000, the 5-6 Cougars staged a miracle comeback to beat the 4-6 Utes in LaVell Edwards' last game, while in 2002, the 4-6 Utes beat the 5-6 Cougars 13-6 in Ron McBride's last game.

• The most common date for a Utah-BYU game is Nov. 20 with six games being played on that date. This year's date of Nov. 22 is tied for the second most common date at five.

• The tradition of playing the BYU-Utah game as the last game of the regular season didn't begin until 1981, although every BYU-Utah game since 1969 has been played in November. From 1930 until 1963, except for three years, the annual game was played in October, usually early or the middle of the month.

• Utah's media guide lists the all-time series record at 52-33-4 for Utah, while BYU's has it 49-30-4 for Utah, because it doesn't count six games before 1922 when it was known as the BY Academy. It makes no difference in the margin of the series, however, since the six games that Utah counts were split 3-3.