BTW, the whole sanctity of the regular season is still fully intact. Just ask Texas (lost to Florida, missed the playoff). It still matters. If A&M had not beaten ND in Game One, we would not have made the playoff, and ND would have.
We can cherry pick all the little things along the way, but the whole sanctity of the season pretty much only applies to non-blue bloods. Blue Bloods and near blue bloods have always been given a pass. Ask 1998 KSU and 2003 OU.