The bell tolled in college football this week, notably for LSU and Kentucky, who saw National Championship dreams dashed on home soil as they fell to Alabama and Georgia respectively.

For Alabama, it was confirmation that this team is the real deal after blasting their way past a handful of cupcakes on their route to Baton Rouge. Despite an all-timer atmosphere in the Bayou, it was quickly deflated by Tua Tagovailoa and the Tide offense, who rolled to victory. Meanwhile, up in Lexington, the Bulldogs ran all over the Wildcats, as De’Andre Swift did his best Herschel Walker impression to win the SEC East and bring the curtain down on Kentucky’s tremendous run.

Elsewhere, Michigan crushed Penn State in something of a revenge game for the Wolverines. In the post-game press conference, Shea Patterson and Karan Higdon underlined just that, saying that the 41-7 defeat was payback for the Lions running up the score a year ago in State College.

Twelfth-ranked UCF survived a barnburner against Temple, although the 52-40 scoreline won’t have helped their bid for the playoffs. Another team hanging on was Ohio State, who struggled past 2-7 Nebraska at home. The Buckeyes aren’t as good as their 8-1 record suggests and could be primed for an upset on the road at Michigan State this weekend. And, speaking of upsets, Purdue claimed their second big scalp of the season as they took down 21st-ranked Iowa 38-36. Missouri also took Florida to the cleaners, as the Gators – who were in playoff contention just two weeks ago – fell 38-17 at home.

Result of the day came in South Carolina as Clemson ran up 77 on Louisville, Quite how Bobby Petrino is still in gainful employment is astonishing given that the Tigers had almost 500 yards on the ground alone, with their top five runners averaging 19.1, 29, 16.8, 14.3 and 18 yards per carry respectively. Dabo Swinney’s side look to have really found their feet, and present a clear danger to Alabama. The defense is primed and ready for a run at it all, but the offense, despite it’s outstanding weaponry, is so young and may just be a year away from dominance.

The game of the day – and perhaps the season – was in Texas, as West Virginia and the Longhorns ran up 83 combined points. Gary Jennings’ 33-yard catch from Will Grier with 16 seconds left was the decider, bringing the Mountaineers to within a point, down 41-40. The throw from Grier was a stunner, and was followed by Dana Holgorson’s decision to go for two and the win, which was duly converted by Grier, who kept the ball on an RPO and raced in for the game-winner. The result legitimised their season and keeps alive slim playoff hopes at 7-1.

That left the playoff landscape as follows: Alabama remains at number one, with Clemson at two while Notre Dame moves up to three. Michigan enters the playoff race at four. The top eight are rounded out by Georgia and Oklahoma at five and six, with two-loss LSU and one-lone Pac-12 leaders Washington State at seven and eight, as Wazzu needed a late touchdown to beat Cal 19-13.

At the other end of the scale were the UTEP Miners, who ended a 20-game losing streak to become the last FBS team to register a victory this season, beating Rice 34-26.

Gridiron’s Top 10:

1. Alabama
2. Clemson
3. Michigan
4. Notre Dame
5. Oklahoma
6. Georgia
7. Washington State
8. LSU
9. West Virginia
10. Ohio State.