How often is college football this simple, this uncomplicated? For some reason, the powers that be have turned our beautiful game into a mixture of advanced calculus, scheduling deconstruction and and résumé judging. At any given time, we are one part football analyst, meteorologist, soothsayer and mathematician.

When you give a college football world just 4 golden tickets, from which all its grandest hopes and dreams lie, a ton of effort, energy and words tend to go toward that often — for 129 other FBS — fruitless endeavor.

How blessed are we out west, then, that Pac-12 and soon-to-be Big Ten powers Washington and Oregon have made our jobs so easy this weekend.

For both, the directive could not be more uncomplicated. Win the next 2 weeks, and you’re in. How utterly simplistic. How utterly beautiful. They even rhyme. Win. In.

Let B1G fans fret over the loser of No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan this weekend. Let Seminoles supporters stress over Jordan Travis and Florida State’s suddenly in-flux offense. Let Alabama fans beg for forgiveness for an early-season loss to Texas and some surprisingly close wins.

The Ducks and Huskies have the clearest paths ahead.

Starting this weekend, and then continuing for one epic clash next weekend in Las Vegas.

*****

This is only because both teams have done their jobs with incredible efficiency.

As it stands, the “best loss” in the country this season belongs to Oregon. And some of the best wins, too.

The Ducks went to Seattle and lost by 3 in a game in which they arguably dominated. That alone would be a high standard. But before that game, they’d outscored opponents 258-59; since that 36-33 loss, they’ve outscored opponents 221-89. For the year: 512-184

That’s just silly. And incredibly impressive. Here’s a look at some of Oregon’s margins in a Pac-12 in the midst of its finest and final season (at least in this form):

  • vs. Colorado: 42-6
  • at Stanford: 42-6
  • vs. Washington State: 38-24
  • at Utah: 35-6
  • vs. Cal: 63-19
  • vs. USC: 36-27
  • at Arizona State: 49-13

The Ducks have dealt 4 teams their biggest losses so far and are top 2 with a few more. It’s been a run of dominance — albeit with one blip — like we haven’t seen in the Pac-12 in years.

No team has finished with a +300 scoring margin since Washington in 2016 — the Pac-12’s last Playoff team — at +337. Oregon was +327 in 2014, +325 in 2013 and +364 in 2012 and +368 in 2010, when they fell to Auburn in the national championship.

The Ducks are currently +328. That bodes well.

And it can’t happen with talent and leadership on both sides of the ball.

“I think our leadership is really special,” Lanning said after lambasting the Sun Devils. “We’ve got a group in there that can handle a lot. As much as we throw at them, it’s almost like they appreciate the challenge.

*****

If you’re a Huskies fan, trust me, you don’t want to see me do the same exercise.

Washington hasn’t won by more than 10 points since Week 4! Sept. 23! That’s incredible!

Since then — 7, 3, 8, 9, 10, 7 and 2.

Here’s the thing: They’re all wins. Eleven in a row, mind you, 18 straight dating to last year.

But also — NR (now 16), 8, NR, NR, 20, 18, 11. In other words, the rankings then (when Washington played them), starting with Arizona, then Oregon, Arizona State, Stanford, USC, Utah and Oregon State, which the Huskies outlasted Saturday, 22-20.

That’s a resume worth framing, even if there was some sweat along the way.

Forget the sweat, though. They’ve already done the hard part and leaped Florida State in the AP rankings, and, presumably, the CFP standings that come out Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s one thing to go back-to-back and play 2 ranked teams; it’s another thing to go back-to-back-to-back and play a team that was ranked 10, 11, 12 depending on the poll and a team that we’re playing at their place where they had won 9 consecutive (games) and with a great environment. They were amped up to play us, there’s no doubt about it. We knew that was going to be a tough game,” Washington coach Kalen DeBoer said.

“That, along with maybe a little bit of an underdog and wanting to continue to prove that we are a complete team. People are always nit-picking on this and that and where we’re maybe a little bit short but there’s areas in our football team where we’re the best in the country. So let’s talk about those strengths too and the fight that these guys have. But we have to just keep doing what we’re doing. We just have to keep winning and we’ve got to focus on winning this weekend. Can’t get caught up in anything we’ve accomplished last weekend, the week before, the week before that … this game is focus No. 1, the ultimate priority, and we know we have to get that done to make sure we get a dub on Saturday.”

But now staring directly at an undefeated season, DeBoer has his eyes firmly on the prize.

“I don’t think we relax, especially with a perfect record that we have going, there’s a lot of pieces when putting our name in the history books of Husky Football,” DeBoer said. “It’s one game at a time and this game means something to the rivalry that we’re playing in. It means something to winning 12 games, being 12-0. There’s a lot we’re playing for and obviously big picture with the Playoff.”

On Saturday, both teams have much to play for beyond their dreams.

The Apple Cup is one of the best and oldest rivalries in college football, dating to 1900 and coming up on its 115th iteration. It’s been pretty one-aided in recent years, dominated by Washington. But there’s usually some drama lurking somewhere.

This year, Washington State comes to Husky Stadium after breaking a 6-game losing streak, which itself followed a 4-game winning streak to start the season. The Cougars are vying for bowl eligibility while loving to play the role of spoiler.

“They certainly are coming in and have something to play for,” DeBoer said. “… You want bragging rights for the next 12 months. There’s a lot to this game and our guys get that.”

And Lanning isn’t taking the Beavers lightly, either.

“This game is our Super Bowl, right?” he said. “They’re obviously a really talented team. They’re coached extremely well. I’m anxious to sit here and watch some of their film. I’ve been able to watch some crossover film of what they’ve done this season, but I always feel like Jonathan has those guys playing their best ball at the end of the season, and it’s a tough team. It’s a resilient team. I’m excited to see what our fans do when they show out for this game. This is a big one.”

Both know the task couldn’t be simpler.

Win. In.