You wanted this. At least all of you who wanted a playoff. Certainly all of you who pushed college football toward the BCS.
The minute that happened back in 1998, it was possible a team that didn't so much as win its division could win a national championship.
It almost happened in 2001 with Nebraska. In 2003, Oklahoma lost the Big 12 championship game by four touchdowns, remained No. 1 in the BCS and played for the national championship.
Alabama took it a step further in 2011.
Before the BCS, the last time a team that didn't win a conference won the national title was 1989, and Miami had an excuse back then: It was an independent.
After the Great Upset Saturday of 2016, it could happen again. That's just one of the conclusions after Nos. 2-3-4 all lost on the same day for the first time since 1985.
Losses by Clemson, Michigan and Washington, among other things, made it a very good day for the likes of Louisville.
Bottom line from Saturday: The more two-loss conference champions, the better it is for any Power Five school with less than two losses that doesn't win its conference.
Cardinals fans (and their coach) have been whining since an Oct. 1 loss to Clemson that their team deserved better. Louisville's effort died that day on Clemson's 9-yard line when James Quick was stopped short of a first down.
Clemson won 42-36 and that was very much that.
Until Saturday.
In the short term, the jumble at the top forces the College Football Playoff Selection Committee to make tough choices this week. For example, who gets ranked higher: Clemson or Louisville?
They're tied atop the ACC Atlantic Division. They both have one loss. Clemson has the tiebreaker but Louisville is playing better. Isn't it?
The Cardinals could win out at 11-1 and still be considered one of the best four in the country. The BCS -- and now the CFP -- has taught us that much. The same for Ohio State, which could essentially cut its own throat by beating Michigan in two weeks.
In that scenario, Penn State, provided the Nittany Lions beat Rutgers and Michigan State, would win a tiebreaker for the Big Ten East because it beat Ohio State earlier this season. Like Louisville, Ohio State would be sitting out there at 11-1.
There are other scenarios laid out by Jon Solomon. The chances for an outlier that didn't win its league are enhanced if at least one two-loss team wins a Power Five conference.
Here's what to watch going forward ...
- Washington State (8-2) controls its own destiny in the Pac-12 North and gets Washington (10-1) at home in the Apple Cup in two weeks.
- Quietly, Oklahoma (8-2) has become one of the hottest teams in the country. The Sooners have won seven in a row and are favored to win the Big 12. Who knows what consecutive wins over ranked teams in West Virginia and Oklahoma State could mean down the stretch?
- Based on Southern California's six-game winning streak and defeat of Washington, maybe the Trojans (7-3) flat-out deserve to win the Pac-12.
That's right, a division runner-up could still play for the national championship.
Hey, you wanted it this way.