Like, in professional sports, at least in the US, there's no equivalent of a Vanderbilt beating #1 Alabama. Conceptually it just can't happen, a team playing another team regularly for decades and not winning. The discrepancy in college football is what makes it simultaneously so great because you can get impossible upsets. Another good example of how awesome college sports are was when Steven F Austin beat #1 Duke in Durham. I remember trying to explain to my NBA-watching friends how insane that upset was and couldn't put it into equivalent terms.
I'm so fucking excited for this 12-team playoff. Even if I know the small schools will be crushed every time, I simply love the fact that everybody in college football now realistically begins the year with a shot at winning the title. Just win every game, and you're essentially guaranteed a shot at the title. That is so fucking cool and it's been long overdue in college football. March madness but football? It's gonna fucking rule.