The weekly BCS shuffle has provided
more drama this fall than Grey's Anatomy.
And if you've followed the national title hunt as closely as I have,
you've heard the term “style points” spouted a lot over the last
week or two.
What
the college football mouths are talking about when they mention style
points is that little something extra teams must do to break into one
of the five BCS bowl games. There are plenty of teams that must wow
the BCS with some additional offense or defense in the final three
games of the season.
This
is a great chance for bettors to play these programs that would normally get unattractive spreads.
The Big 12 is a
perfect example of where the value lies in style points. Texas, Texas
Tech and Oklahoma run a very likely risk of ending up tied atop the
South standings when it's all said and done.
In that case, the
conference tie breaker turns to the BCS rankings. The highest ranked
team will advance to the Big 12 title game where they will run over
Missouri and move on to play for the national championship.
In
order to get into that position, those three Big 12 South schools are
going to have to go all out. Expect the Sooners to pile on the points
if they get up on the Red Raiders next weekend – making Oklahoma
minus whatever a solid bet.
The
same can be said for the Longhorns. They face Kansas Saturday and
lowly Texas A&M in the final game of the season. Bettors can take
comfort in giving a ton of points with Colt McCoy and the Texas offense
trying to puff up their final BCS spot.
The
non-BCS schools in the bowl hunt, like Utah, Boise State and even
Ball State, are not only battling their final two foes of the regular
season but also each other. There is one glass slipper set aside for
these would-be Cinderellas. They'll be trying to score style points
with the BCS selection as well.
It's
worth taking a gander at the predicted bowl matchups and see who can
upgrade their purse by pouring it on thick in the final two weeks.
Don't fear the points.