Alabama's historic loss shows us the 2024 season is poised for unmitigated chaos | News, results, highlights, statistics and rumors

In the wildest dreams of the wildest, most optimistic Vanderbilt football fan, he could never have imagined a universe in which his team would be – a team that has never in its history beaten a team ranked in the top five in the AP poll landed, a span of over 60 (mostly ugly) losses – would eke out a victory against mighty Alabama, less than a week after mighty Alabama defeated mighty Georgia in one of the greatest games in recent football history.

Normally you don't dream that big because dreams that big don't usually come true. They can't imagine winning this game, just as they can't imagine running the field. They don't do these things for a very obvious reason.

Why waste the time, they say?

But on Saturday evening it all came true. Vanderbilt dreams. Alabama nightmares. The Commodores 40, the Crimson Tide 35.

It's a score that, despite taking place over a period of more than four hours, still doesn't feel entirely real. It's a conclusion that will take Alabama fans many months to digest. It's a score Vanderbilt fans will never forget.

The rest of us have to process what we just saw. Perhaps even more so, we wonder how this kind of chaos will pave the way for more.

Chaos has been a common theme lately. At a time when realignment and NIL and expanded playoffs have brought chaos away As far as football is concerned, the results we have now are a sign of one of the strangest phases of football we have ever seen.

We'll get to that, but first let's look at how we got here. The excitement didn't come out of nowhere; It started the moment these two teams started playing.

Trailing 13-0, we assumed Kalen Deboer's team was still sleepwalking after a thrilling win over the Bulldogs last Saturday. And that was it.

It just never fully woke up.

Alabama's defense was under constant pressure, thanks largely to the outstanding play of Vandy QB Diego Pavia. Pavia provided the spark, and he never relented. Ultimately, the Commodores were responsible for 418 yards of offense.

The Crimson Tide had moments. Freshman wideout Ryan Williams made another acrobatic catch to keep the game close, a move that doesn't feel quite right. But it was reality.

Vanderbilt was simply better. Not much additional decryption effort is required. We could talk about whether the thrilling win over Georgia last Saturday played a significant role or what impact the departure of Nick Saban, the greatest coach of all time, had on that outcome.

No matter who you want to blame, the reality, as hard as it may still be to believe, doesn't change. The No. 1 team in college football just lost to Vanderbilt, once the doormat of the SEC and college football as a whole. They did this despite being more than a three-touchdown favorite and possibly having the favorite to win, the Heisman-playing quarterback.

Find a place to place the blame. No matter where you end up, the outcome will not change.

Alabama's loss changes everything. The season, as a college football season tends to do, has already produced its fair share of upsets and close calls. But this result – this incredible result – should fundamentally change the perception of all teams going forward.

Sure, an expanded College Football Playoff changes the stakes. This part is undeniable. The fact that it's bloated from four teams to 12 doesn't take Alabama out of the discussion. But it undoubtedly makes it more complicated.

This expands the network and allows more teams to come into play. While losses may not eliminate teams like they once did, they open the door to further chaos and opportunity.

It's barely October. The weather is still warm. Conference play has just begun.

On the maiden voyage of the expanded offseason, nights like these feel appropriate. These are the types of games that matter, regardless of the size of the postseason. Whether it's a slip or whether it's contagious will become clear over the next eight weeks, but after that it's unlikely to happen.

Many will look forward and try to process the impact of such a moment. Others, especially those who wear purple and heartbreak, will look for the right place to place blame.

None of this matters. Not the quarterback in the Heisman contest or the fact that the legendary coach is still gone. There will be time to repair such a loss, but it requires the right ingredients.

What matters to Vanderbilt fans is that it happened — that nothing was normal at all on a perfectly normal Saturday night.

A surprise of this magnitude rarely occurs. When they do, you can't help but process how it came about.

And because we just can't help it, what's next?