Column: College football in 2024 on an upset-filled day proves CFB will never lose its magic

As I stood on that dreary, disappointed and discombobulated sideline in South Bend on Sept. 7, I felt the college football world shake.

How exactly does No. 6 Notre Dame lose to Northern Illinois?

"This is a program-changing type win," NIU head coach Thomas Hammock said after the game. "We develop, we recruit, we find the right kind of kids that want to work and grind.

"We’ve been here before," Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said drearily after the game.

It happened. The 28-point dogs bared their teeth and, I swear, I thought there wouldn't be a bigger seismic shake-up this season as the Irish only started to face the magnitude of what just happened.

That is, until this past Saturday. It was the day that proved the magic that makes college football great was still there.

The calendar read Oct. 5, 2024. It was an exhilarating day for some college football fans everywhere. For others, they felt the dreary feeling Freeman felt nearly a month prior.

On that particular day – Oct. 5, 2024 – No. 1 Alabama, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 9 Missouri, No. 10 Michigan and No. 11 USC all lost. No. 9 Missouri was the only team that lost to a ranked team; the other losses came at the hands of unranked teams.

This came after NIU's upset over Notre Dame, Kentucky beat No. 6 Ole Miss, Arizona beat No. 10 Utah and Georgia Tech beat No. 10 Florida State in the previous weeks. The No. 10 ranking is proving to be as cursed as the No. 2 ranking was in 2007.

Arkansas upset Tennessee for the Hogs' first home win over an AP Top 5 team since Nov. 13, 1999, which coincidentally also came against Tennessee. Or maybe it wasn't. Who knows, it's college football after all.

"My damn hip is killing me," Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman said after getting caught up in the postgame field storming. "Not as bad right now."

Still, none of the aforementioned upsets could be greater than Vanderbilt over No. 1 Alabama.

It was the greatest upset in the eyes of most and probably the most devastating upset in the eyes of Tide fans, especially with Alabama fresh off of last week's showstopping win over No. 1 Georgia.

Not only did Vanderbilt win, but it sealed its first win over Alabama since 1984 with two first downs on offense. Since the peak of the Nick Saban era in Alabama, the running gag has always been, "We want ‘Bama!" You get one thing right, bring on ’Bama.

The Commodores didn't ask for 'Bama, but they gambled with touchdown bombs on fourth and one situations, and won in the trenches. 

"I felt like we physically were the more dominant team tonight," Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea said. "That’s a statement."

Hold on, though.

This kind of seismic activity wasn't supposed to happen anymore, let alone in this new era of college football. Name, Image and Likeness legislation allowing for players to legally get paid and these two new superconferences were going to shift the balance of college football for good.

Tennessee, USC or Notre Dame would no longer lose to Cal-Berkley, Arkansas, Minnesota or Northern Illinois, respectively. Any chance of a Vanderbilt upset over Alabama would only exist in deep dreams and on NCAA video games.

Even Missouri, a program that greatly benefited from NIL legislation that led to major recruiting wins and transfer acquisitions, couldn't utilize any of those benefits as Texas A&M began its blowout win over the Tigers.

"We just wanted to come out and continue to put our foot on their neck," Texas A&M running back Le'Veon Moss said. "That's it."

The fact is that momentum and legacy standing have never been more important in college sports.

The programs that feasted back between the 1970s and 1990s with championships and dynasties would have the financial backing to try and recreate those years of success. Others, like Missouri, can point to recent success to get the financial backing for their NIL funds.

The likes of Alabama, Miami, Tennessee and Michigan have NIL collectives that can give out unconfirmed amounts of money, with a few of those figures going into millions based on what I know about NIL operations at Missouri and Notre Dame. On3.com, which covers recruiting and NIL figures, gives a player like Alabama's Jalen Milroe an NIL valuation of over $1 million.

Legally paying players has helped programs like Texas and Oregon find their footing. Texas is back, made a College Football Playoff appearance last year and is a top-three team in the nation this year. The Ducks are also a top-10 team, most likely moving into the top five after Saturday.

But, this NIL-Superconference era of college football will not change college football's true nature. Entire teams can change. The magic will still be vibrant.

Michigan, coming off its national championship win over Washington, dropped its second game of the season in its title-game rematch against the Huskies.

The Wolverines may have their national title, but their dreams of sustained success in the NIL era are fleeting after losing to a new-look Washington team in Seattle.

The new-look Huskies, with first-year head coach Jedd Fisch and transfer quarterback Will Rogers, have no recollection of a national title game they never lost. It's why beating No. 10 Michigan means plenty to them.

"I've never been a part of that," Rogers said. "It's something I'll remember the rest of my life for sure."

The rules may change. The methods and means of acquiring players may differ for those who have money and those who don't. But, the 2024 season is proving none of that matters.

College football's magic is still coursing across the sports world.

After Saturday, it will always be there. Nothing will take it away.