John Walters

Speed-limit scoring is the new black in college football. 69. 66. 63.

As in, USC 69, Washington State 0. Or Oklahoma 66, Texas A&M 28. Or Texas Tech 63, Kansas 21. Or Florida 63, Kentucky 5.

Final scores and Helen Mirren: Two things that are at their most striking in their 60's.

Of course, style points, like chinos and plain white Ts, have never gone out of style in college football. Each week, a limited number of contestants vie for the role of America’s Next Top ... Ranked Team, and each week that team is almost always the one that excavates the most paydirt.

After all, 3rd-down stops rarely make the SportsCenter highlight reel.

Two teams will play in the BCS national championship game on Jan. 6, and there still exists a possibility that only two schools from power conferences, Alabama (SEC) and Texas Tech (Big 12) will be undefeated at that time. And nothing is more fashionable than a zed in the loss column.

However, that will likely not be the case. Most of us outside of Lubbock and Tuscaloosa believe that either the Red Raiders or Crimson Tide (or both) will lose once between now and Christmas. Should that happen, there will almost certainly be a few one-loss programs preening for a spot in the national championship. And if it comes down to a “walk-off”, well, nothing says sexy like a blowout win or four.

Except that this season is different. Only one school, USC, stands to gain much via style points this season and the Trojans of Pete Carroll have a curious quandary: Their most striking pose is a defensive stance.

"I don't care about style points," said USC coach Pete Carroll. "I never have in all of the years I've been here. It feels like a popularity contest at times. It's unfortunate that it is the way it is."

Pretty is as pretty does, and nothing is more comely in college football than scoring barrages. And so Oklahoma, mindful that it needs to remain photogenic following that 45-35 loss to Texas last month, has averaged 62 points per game in its last three contests. Florida, another one-loss team in search of a Miami booking, has been updating its portfolio by averaging 51 points per game in its last four victories -- against SEC foes with winning records, mind you. And Texas Tech, because well, they’re Texas Tech, launched a drive with five minutes to play and a 29-point lead on Saturday night in which five of the seven calls were pass plays.

But, now that Penn State has lost at Iowa, style points matter only to one team: USC. That's because there are six BCS conferences and three of them -- the ACC, Big East and now Big Ten -- have absolutely no shot this season of sending a representative to the national title game.

The Big Ten fell out of the frame whent the Nittany Lions lost 24-23 loss in Iowa City. And though they happen to be a one-loss team with a style-points win of their own (66-10 over Coastal Carolina in the season-opener), the voters are not about to allow a third consecutive Big Ten champ to serve as BCS roadkill in January.

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Which leaves three conferences: The Big 12, SEC and Pac-10. One can haggle all they want over whether Texas Tech is better than Texas is better than Oklahoma who may be better than Texas Tech. It doesn’t matter. One of those three is going to win the Big 12 South -- the college football universe will be centered in Norman come Nov. 22 -- and most likely the Big 12 championship game after that. No other Big 12 school will be considered for the BCS title game.

Next up: The SEC. Undefeated and top-ranked Alabama (10-0) is already slated to face 8-1 Florida in that conference’s title game. The winner will be the second viable candidate for selection in the national championship game.

Thus, for the five schools currently ranked atop the two major polls and in the BCS standings (Alabama, Texas Tech, Texas, Oklahoma and Florida), style points are, well, pointless.

Then there’s USC. The Trojans are the Green party candidate, if you will. If the Big 12 and/or SEC produce a one-loss champion, USC has the right to start politicking. And if I were their campaign manager, I’d have them run on a national security platform.

Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree are fun to watch. Tim Tebow is an extraordinary talent and a charismatic figure. But no unit in college football is more dominant than the Trojan defense. Each of the teams in the top five have allowed at least 30 points in one game this season and at least 21 in another. USC allowed 27 points at Oregon State and a grand total of 33 points in their eight other contests -- all nine games of which were played against BCS conference foes.

The Trojans have allowed just one touchdown in the past five games. One! And that happened as a result of quarterback Mark Sanchez fumbling on his own 15 yard line. USC, whose 11 defensive starters will likely all wind up on NFL rosters (half of them will be first-round picks), leads the nation in scoring defense, total defense and pass defense. And the Trojans are third in the nation in rushing defense, behind TCU and Nevada.

USC’s biggest problem may be our lack of imagination. It’s easy to visualize 66 points being more of a rout than 44 points. But how does one get less than zero (unless he’s Bret Easton Ellis)?

And so that is why I believe that anyone with a weak stomach or even an iota of fondness for Notre Dame best not tune in to USC’s game against the Irish on Nov. 29. By that time, this national championship picture will have more clarity. By then, it will be common knowledge that unless Alabama and Texas Tech are both undefeated (Utah, Boise State: We love you, but it’s not happening), then there will be two spots for three teams: The Big 12 champ, the SEC champ and USC (which may not even be the Pac-10 champ, but that won’t matter).

There will be a mandate for USC, which has already racked up three shutouts and a pair of only-a-field-goal-allowed wins, to produce a high-profile win to catapult themselves ahead of one of the other two candidates. And while there are no ranked foes left on USC’s calendar, who’s more high-profile than Notre Dame?

Carson Palmer cemented his Heisman Trophy with a season-ending 31-point demolition of the Irish in the Coliseum in 2002. Tyrone Willingham sealed his fate with a season-ending 31-point loss to the Trojans in the Coliseum two years later. Come Nov. 29, the stakes for both USC and Notre Dame may both be extreme, albeit at opposite poles.

Style points? It could get ugly.

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