For fans and critics of the four-team College Football Playoff who have been clamoring for something different -- someone different -- the sport at least delivered the possibility at the midway point of the season, serving up a frenetic Saturday in which No. 1 Alabama and No. 4 Penn State both lost.
No, No. 1 Alabama losing a nail-biter on the road to an unranked, two-loss Texas A&M team does not eliminate the Tide from the conversation, but now Alabama must win the SEC, and it puts a dent in the league's hopes of having two SEC teams finish in the top four. It can still happen if one-loss Alabama runs the table and beats an undefeated Georgia in the SEC championship game, but the Tide has now lost its mulligan in the SEC title game, should it win the West and make it to Atlanta.
According to ESPN's Football Power Index, Alabama still has the third-best chance (54%) to make the playoff and the second-best (35%) to win it. Thanks to tiebreakers -- and Texas A&M already having two SEC losses -- Alabama is still the frontrunner to win the West (77%), but Georgia now has the best chance to win the SEC (65%). If Alabama and Georgia both finish 11-1, there's a 90% chance they both finish in the top four, according to the Allstate Playoff Predictor, but there's only an 11% chance of that happening.
The Crimson Tide's loss also means that Iowa and Cincinnati -- fresh faces in a field typically dominated by Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma -- are true contenders.
For now.
While Georgia has established itself as a clear No. 1, and it's probably at least safe to assume the Big Ten champion will finish in the top four this year, the other two spots could be quite a debate if there is only one deserving SEC team this fall.
Oklahoma is still undefeated following its thrilling come-from-behind win against Texas. With BYU losing at home to unranked Boise State, Cincinnati is clearly the best remaining team from outside a Power 5 conference. Michigan and Michigan State are still undefeated but have to play each other, and Ohio State is looking like one of the best one-loss teams in the country.
Which is why Oregon's win over Ohio State is still one of the best in the country, so don't eliminate the struggling Ducks just yet.
This is why the selection committee doesn't even begin to try and sort all this out until Nov. 2. There's still plenty of time and opportunities for Alabama and other one-loss teams to impress the committee. Alabama has not lost consecutive games since the end of the 2013 season. The last time Alabama lost consecutive regular-season games was in 2007, Nick Saban's first season. The Tide travel to unranked Mississippi State on Saturday, and should be favored to win, but they end the season with tricky games against Arkansas and at rival Auburn.
"Everybody needs to remember how they feel and not forget it," Saban said after the game, "because when I talk about respect for winning, that's what I mean. You want to avoid the feeling that you have when you lose."
If it happens again, they'll lose far more than another game.
So what about two Big Ten teams instead?
Plenty of credence has already been given to the possibility of the SEC getting two teams into the CFP, but given what happened in the Big Ten and SEC on Saturday, consider this scenario: One-loss Ohio State runs the table, wins the Big Ten and hands Iowa its only loss of the season in the conference championship game. While the SEC still leads the nation with a 48% chance to send multiple teams to the playoff, the Big Ten is second with a 26% chance.
ESPN's Football Power Index projects both Ohio State and Iowa to win each of their remaining games. If that were to happen, the selection committee would likely consider them both, but whether Iowa-Ohio State was a close game would factor into it, as would how Iowa has looked all season. While the Hawkeyes' defense has been outstanding, their offense has looked stagnant at times, and it's hard to envision Iowa keeping pace with a more potent offense. The Hawkeyes could barely hang with Penn State when quarterback Sean Clifford was healthy in the first half.
To get two teams into the top four, the Big Ten needs an undefeated team to reach the conference title game because it won't get a two-loss runner-up in. So Ohio State and Penn State are in must-win mode from here on out (See: Alabama).
That's a critical piece of the puzzle in determining which direction the Nittany Lions are headed. Much like Alabama, they can still win their division and even face Iowa again in the Big Ten championship game. They need Clifford, though, to do it.
Oklahoma keeps Big 12 CFP hopes alive
The Red River Showdown was a win for the Sooners and the entire Big 12 because the league's highest-ranked undefeated team stayed that way, keeping the conference in contention for a semifinal spot.
The Sooners' thrilling 55-48 come-from-behind win against rival and No. 21-ranked Texas was their first this season against an Associated Press Top 25 opponent, but they should have a chance to impress the committee with two more. OU ends its regular season at No. 12 Oklahoma State, which had a bye and also is undefeated, and if the Sooners play in the Big 12 title game, they'd likely face another ranked opponent there.
Their remaining strength of schedule, which is No. 27 in the country, would win a résumé battle against Cincinnati if the committee were comparing them for that fourth spot, along with Alabama, Georgia and the Big Ten champion. Overall, Oklahoma's schedule would also probably trump the Pac-12 champions, though Oregon could still boast one of the best wins in the country, against Ohio State.
ESPN's FPI gives OU at least a 75% chance to win each of its remaining games, with the most difficult being the regular-season finale at Oklahoma State (75.1% chance to win).
Schedule aside, the Sooners have to start looking the part of a playoff contender. With the exception of a 76-0 win against Western Carolina, OU has not won a game by more than seven points -- beating Tulane, Nebraska, West Virginia, K-State and Texas by an average of 5.6 points.
Oklahoma trailed Texas by 21 points after the first quarter, finished with two turnovers, benched starting quarterback Spencer Rattler in favor of freshman Caleb Williams and allowed 516 total yards. While OU has made defensive strides under coordinator Alex Grinch, the Sooners still don't rank among the nation's elite, ranking No. 62 in opponents' points per game (23.83).
Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said he has been talking to his team since the summer about the importance of finishing strong, and playing at their best in the fourth quarter. On Saturday against Texas, the Sooners had to overcome a start Riley described as "maybe the worst in all my years of coaching."
The Red River Showdown could be a microcosm of the Sooners' entire season -- off to a slow start, but finding ways to stay undefeated and finish strong, therefore remaining relevant in November. Riley said he doesn't think Saturday's win "will be the pinnacle of our season."
"We've been a group that has finished well," he said. "You keep doing that, you keep winning, you keep improving between the weeks, who knows? We'll see what happens."
Cincinnati only realistic contender from non-Power 5 conference
Cincinnati handled Temple with ease, winning 52-3 on Friday night, but its playoff hopes also got a boost with Alabama's loss and Notre Dame's win over Virginia Tech. Cincinnati needs the Irish to run the table, so the Bearcats' win over Notre Dame continues to resonate with the selection committee.
One of Cincinnati's other obstacles is the possibility of the SEC getting two teams in, and while Alabama's loss didn't eliminate the scenario entirely, it lessened it.
One other small win for the Bearcats on Saturday was No. 24 SMU winning a close game at Navy. Cincinnati hosts SMU on Nov. 20, and right now it's the only other ranked opponent remaining on the Bearcats' regular-season schedule.
BYU squandered a huge opportunity when it lost 26-17 to unranked Boise State at home on Saturday, leaving Cincinnati as the most realistic team from outside a Power 5 conference to garner any serious consideration from the selection committee.
BYU had everything -- a realistic chance at an undefeated season and multiple opportunities against respectable Power 5 conference teams. It arguably had a shot at a better résumé than Cincinnati, with wins against Utah and Arizona State, and a chance to beat Baylor and USC on the road. Instead, BYU had four turnovers and just one touchdown in the final three quarters of its loss to Boise State.