FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- TCU did all it could on the field to

keep its slim BCS hopes alive. Now, the No. 18 Horned Frogs get to

play the waiting game.

"It will be interesting to see how things pan out. We'll have

to see," receiver Cory Rodgers said. "I wouldn't say that we

deserve to be in the BCS, I've think we've shown flashes of being a

BCS contender. It would be great to go to a BCS bowl."

Rodgers ran for a touchdown and caught another one, and TCU

wrapped up its regular season with a 51-3 victory over UNLV on

Saturday night.

The Horned Frogs (10-1, 8-0 Mountain West Conference) have won

nine straight games -- only No. 1 USC (32 games) and No. 2 Texas

(17) have longer active winning streaks. It is TCU's fourth 10-win

season in six years.

"There's probably a whole bunch of people that don't want to

play us in a bowl game," coach Gary Patterson said. "I'll play

anybody from about No. 10 up, 10, 11, all the way through it, if

they want to decide who should go to it."

TCU is 17th in the latest Bowl Championship Series standings,

five spots below what would make the Frogs eligible for one of

those high-payout four bowl games. While they are the outright

Mountain West champion, their league isn't guaranteed a BCS spot.

So, the Frogs have to sit back and watch for the rest of

November and hope for a series of upsets in other games.

While getting into the BCS will be a stretch, Patterson wanted

to keep his team focused on finishing strong. So even after

clinching the MWC title with a 33-6 victory over Colorado State

last week, they waited until after beating the Rebels (2-8, 1-6) to

celebrate.

"I told the team to win the game like champions, and I think we

did," Patterson said.

The Frogs came out strong, going ahead 17-0 just 7½ minutes into

the game before UNLV even gained a yard.

Quentily Harmon caught a 26-yard touchdown pass and Rodgers had

a 9-yard TD run for the first two TCU touchdowns, after Chris

Manfredini kicked a 29-yard field goal to end the opening drive.

"We didn't want to celebrate last week because the season

wasn't over," said quarterback Jeff Ballard, who completed 17 of

31 passes for 279 yards and two touchdowns. "The season wasn't

completed until this game was over, and we wanted to be undefeated

in the conference."

In its inaugural MWC season, TCU became only the third team to

get through the league undefeated. The Frogs captured their first

outright conference title since 1958, having shared four titles in

three conferences (Southwest, Western Athletic Conference,

Conference USA) the previous 11 seasons.

"That's what we aspire to be," UNLV first-year coach Mike

Sanford said.

"We see what they do and how they play," said Rebels

quarterback Jarrod Jackson, who was sacked four times. "That's

what we want to do."

TCU freshman Aaron Brown ran for 105 yards and three touchdowns

on 18 carries. He had a pair of 1-yard TD runs in the second

quarter, then capped the scoring with a 31-yard run in the third

quarter after Rodgers' 55-yard TD catch.

After the first of Manfredini's three field goals, Ronnie Smith

muffed the kickoff return that was recovered by Ervin Dickerson at

the UNLV 31. Four plays later, Ballard hit Harmon, who juggled the

ball crossing the goal line but gathered it in for a 10-0 lead.

The Rebels lost a yard on their first play and Jackson threw an

incomplete pass before Drew Coleman's interception and 22-yard

return set TCU up at the 18. Rogers swept around left end on the

third play for a 9-yard TD and a 17-point lead.

TCU had 312 of its 587 yards by halftime, when it led 31-3 and

Ballard had thrown for 187 yards to six different receivers.

UNLV had just 157 total yards, 62 of them on a pass to Erick

Jackson midway through the third quarter. But Sergio Aguayo, who

kicked a 32-yard field goal in the first quarter, was wide left on

a 38-yard attempt.

The Rebels were the second straight TCU opponent held without a

touchdown.

Patterson is the only coach to lead the Horned Frogs to three

10-win seasons (2002, 2003 and 2005), and was the defensive

coordinator when they won 10 games in 2000. TCU has only four other

10-win seasons, all in the 1930s.

TCU's only loss was 21-10 at SMU on Sept. 10, a week after a

season-opening 17-10 upset victory at then-No. 7 Oklahoma. The

winning streak began with consecutive overtime victories, but the

Frogs have won their last seven games by an average of 25 points.