Week four of the college football season was a very decisive week. The real title contenders showed themselves and the pretenders were revealed. Here’s how it all stacked up:

Winner: Wisconsin

At the beginning of the season, most college football prognosticators didn’t give Wisconsin much of a chance to make a big splash in the College Football Playoff race. The preseason AP Top 25 Poll put the Badgers at 19, behind four other Big Ten Schools. Last weekend, the Badgers (3-0, 1-0 Big Ten) proved all of their doubters wrong by pummeling No. 11 Michigan (2-1, 0-1 Big Ten) in a lopsided blowout. Wisconsin’s patented ground-and-pound style of game play was in full force in Madison, as it has been all season. The Badgers’ defense has given up only 14 points the entire season, and junior running back Jonathan Taylor is playing like a Heisman frontrunner. Against Michigan, the Badgers’ offense put up an astounding 359 rushing yards. Now, the Badgers have rocketed up to eighth place in the AP Poll and no one can counter the claim that they are legitimate title contenders this season.

Loser: UCF

After putting together a convincing win against Stanford a week ago, No. 15 UCF looked well on its way to another New Year’s Six (NY6) bowl game. After beating up on the Cardinal, nobody thought that the Knights’ next match against lowly Pitt (2-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) could present a problem. Pittsburgh had lost two of its three opening games of the season, and the Panthers’ one win wasn’t exactly convincing — a 10-point win versus Ohio. But suddenly, Pitt’s offense, which had been averaging just under 15 points per game, exploded for a 35-point performance that UCF (3-1) couldn’t match. The Knights now enter conference play with an early blemish on their record, and one that will cost them in their pursuit of a third-straight appearance in a NY6 bowl. Unlike previous years, UCF has serious competition for the spot allotted to Group of Five programs, with No. 16 Boise State off to a strong start to its season. To make it through, the Knights now likely have to run the table and hope that Boise State (4-0, 1-0 Mountain West) suffers a loss in conference play. Not an easy task.

Winner: The Southeastern Conference (SEC)

Over the past couple of seasons or so, the SEC’s traditional mantle of being the best conference in the nation was thrown into serious question. One could make a legitimate argument for one of the other conferences being better than the SEC. Now, there’s no doubt about it — the SEC is the best conference in the nation, and last week proved it. No. 8 Auburn proved its mettle this week by taking down No. 17 Texas A&M at College Station, while No. 3 Georgia shut down a challenge from No. 7 Notre Dame under the lights in prime time. Senior quarterback Joe Burrow of No. 4 LSU is having his best season, and even No. 9 Florida has kept it together despite losing its starting quarterback for the season. All of this is without even mentioning the ever-dominant Crimson Tide. Folks, the SEC is looking really good, and its high-profile clashes down the road should be awesome to watch.

Loser: Washington State

This one doesn’t need much of an explanation. True contenders for championships don’t blow 32-point leads with a quarter and a half remaining at home. They especially don’t do this against 0-3 teams. This is becoming familiar territory for No. 19 Washington State, who proved once again that they are not serious contenders. This isn’t the first time in recent years Washington State’s legitimate conference title hopes took a hit with an early-season loss against a beatable team; the Cougars were ranked eighth in the nation when they suffered a season-destroying blowout at Cal. This year, it was UCLA who put Washington State (3-1, 0-1 Pac-12) away, likely for the season. Another Pac-12 team bites the dust.

Honorable Mention: Bevo’s bathroom bucket

Bevo, the live mascot for Texas, has got to be one of the coolest mascots in sports. The longhorn steer made headlines last season when he charged Georgia’s mascot, Uga, prior to the Sugar Bowl. Being a live animal, though, Bevo naturally needs a place do his business. So this week, his handlers decided to oblige him by providing him a bucket with a logo of Texas’ fierce rival, Texas A&M, on it, along with the words “13th Man.” It’s been a long time since these two rivals met on the gridiron, but the passion of this rivalry clearly has not died down. I think it’s high time for a reunion.