When Style Points Matter in College Football, Teams Are Right to Run Up Score

Over the final month of the college football season, we are poised to see some enormously lopsided box scores. Only two teams can compete in the final BCS National Championship Game, and those outside the top two will have no choice but to manhandle their opponents as efficiently and convincingly as possible.

If this means throwing the ball late in the fourth quarter to the dismay of the frustrated coach on the opposite sideline, or keeping starters in well past the point they need to be, so be it.

What other choice is there?

The candidates for such anticipated box score destruction appear obvious. With the latest BCS rankings, Alabama again checked in at No. 1, while Florida State and Oregon continued their weekly swap. The Seminoles held down the No. 2, jumping the Ducks to reclaim the position they held when the rankings debuted a few weeks ago.

Have no fear, Oregon fans. A win over Stanford would propel the Ducks back into the No. 2 spot, and at that point they might not look back.

The assumption, of course, is that all undefeated teams will win out going forward, and that an ancient football formula will decide which unbeaten teams get to play once more before the four-team playoff is realized.

In all likelihood, that will not be the case. Perhaps this will be the year where the BCS is not bailed out by chaos—a fitting way to create a chaos of its own—although upsets will come. Until they do, however, teams like Ohio State, Florida State and Baylor…

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