Last weekend’s college football schedule was deceptively good given its mid-September limitations.

In the Big Ten, Indiana made a national statement and whoopee cushioned Illinois, while Michigan survived a scare at Nebraska. Down in the SEC, John Mateer led Oklahoma past former Sooner quarterback Jackson Arnold and Auburn, though Mateer was injured in the win.

Elsewhere, Texas Tech made a claim for the Big 12 summit with a physical, convincing win at Utah. Right on cue, the always chaotic conference that is the ACC saw Fran Brown’s Syracuse humiliate Dabo Swinney’s Clemson.

Conference action expands in full this weekend. There are four showdowns between ranked teams. There are many more games with sleeper potential and entertainment value that are worth considering, too. As we’ve been doing each week, here is a quick run-through on the forthcoming matchups, sorted by narrative intrigue and capacity for chaos.

All times ET, and all odds via BetMGM.

Week 5 viewing guide

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GameTime (ET)TVStream

Army at East Carolina

7:30 p.m., Thu.

ESPN

Florida State at Virginia

7 p.m., Fri.

ESPN

TCU at Arizona St.

9 p.m., Fri.

Fox

USC at Illinois

Noon, Sat.

Fox

Notre Dame at Arkansas

Noon, Sat.

ABC

Duke at Syracuse

Noon, Sat.

ACCN

LSU at Ole Miss

3:30 p.m., Sat.

ABC

Ohio St. at Washington

3:30 p.m., Sat.

CBS

Tennessee at Mississippi St.

4:15 p.m., Sat.

SECN

Oregon at Penn St.

7:30 p.m., Sat.

NBC

Alabama at Georgia

7:30 p.m., Sat.

ABC

BYU at Colorado

10:15 p.m., Sat.

ESPN

ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC are available for free over the air. In addition, CBS streams on Paramount+, Fox streams on Fox One and NBC streams on Peacock. All ESPN network broadcasts, including SECN and ACCN, also stream on ESPN Unlimited.

ThursdayBest on paper AND best potential chaos agent: Army at East Carolina, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN

Consider the Black Knights’ three endings in 2025: a double-overtime loss to Tarleton State, a three-point upset of Kansas State (as +500 moneyline underdogs) and a 45-38 rally-turned-OT stinger to North Texas. This is about as exciting as a 1-2 American Conference team can possibly be. East Carolina wideout Yannick Smith had nine catches for 146 yards against BYU last Saturday, and the Pirates are 12th in passing yards per game behind senior QB Katin Houser. If nothing else, Army’s sleek gold helmets and ECU’s royal purple uniforms should look sharp under the lights.

FridayBest on paper: No. 24 TCU at Arizona State, 9 p.m. on Fox

According to Bill Connelly’s SP+ predictive model, these two teams are separated by just 1.3 points and should therefore deliver a highly watchable Friday night look. They’re both top-30 teams on The Athletic’s updated 136 rankings, with a field goal spread and a sizable point total (55.5) from oddsmakers. The defending Big 12 champion Sun Devils are coming off a gutsy win in Waco, beating Baylor by a 27-24 final after an eventful late-game marathon. ASU’s Sam Leavitt still lets it fly, though he already has three interceptions compared to six in all of 2024’s College Football Playoff campaign.

The undefeated Horned Frogs found the end zone in all four quarters of last Saturday’s home win over SMU; receiver Eric McAlister went off with a video game-like eight catches for 254 yards and three TDs.

Best potential chaos agent: No. 8 Florida State at Virginia, 7 p.m. on ESPN

FSU sent the message with its Week 1 two-touchdown win over Alabama, then held it down with a combined 143 points in two cakewalks. We still don’t know a whole lot about the eighth-ranked program in the nation, which remade its roster but very much still went 2-10 last year. A night game in Charlottesville forms an interesting first road test for Tommy Castellanos, who has yet to be sacked this season. The dual-threat QB transfer from Boston College has six touchdowns (three passing, three rushing) to 11 total incompletions.

On the other side, this Cavaliers defense had five sacks and eight tackles for loss in UVA’s ACC opener, cruising past Stanford 48-20.

Saturday, early windowBest on paper: No. 21 USC at No. 23 Illinois, noon on Fox

The Trojans’ tour through the Midwest continues. Two weeks ago, Lincoln Riley and USC handled Purdue (after a three-hour storm delay, because Indiana weather is a magic 8 ball). They hung 45 points on Michigan State in last Saturday’s conference home opener, and now head into Champaign.

The Illini should have a surplus of motivation after getting played off the field by the Hoosiers, and though he was held in check last weekend, quarterback Luke Altmyer has a clean 9-0 TD:INT mark thus far. Illinois will need improvements up front after allowing Altmyer to take seven sacks last time out. USC edge rushers Braylan Shelby and Eric Gentry can warp opponents’ plans quickly.

Best potential chaos agent: No. 22 Notre Dame at Arkansas, noon on ABC

Notre Dame lost to Miami by three points, then winced as it fell on the wrong side of a 41-40 classic with Texas A&M. The intrastate Purdue beatdown may have helped with morale, but things are still less than solid heading into a hostile away draw. Razorback Stadium will be rowdy for such a rarity, the first matchup in the history of these long-standing programs. Arkansas will try to shed back-to-back losses, though they were by a combined seven points to good opponents (undefeated Ole Miss and resurgent Memphis).

Irish running back Jeremiyah Love has upped his rushing yardage week by week, from 33 to 94 to 157. That last breakout came against the very-not-good Boilermakers, but it should be noted that the Razorbacks have allowed 157.5 rushing yards per game this season (87th in the nation, just behind Purdue).

Saturday sleeper: Duke at Syracuse, noon on ACC Network

Would this be a banger of a basketball game in the mid-2000s? Yes, in each and every timeline. It also should be a fun football game this Saturday. Syracuse is fourth in FBS passing at 354 yards per game, though it lost quarterback Steve Angeli for the season due to an Achilles injury suffered during last week’s win at Clemson. The Orange are underdogs again with Rickie Collins taking over under center. Collins, a dual-threat transfer from LSU, threw a touchdown against Clemson to help Syracuse clinch the upset.

Duke comes in ranked 10th in passing yards per game thanks to Tulane transfer Darian Mensah. Expect a lot of offense in the dome.

Saturday, afternoon windowBest on paper: No. 4 LSU at No. 13 Ole Miss, 3:30 p.m. on ABC

A high-leverage Magnolia Bowl with commercial broadcasting. A sliver of a spread (Rebels by less than a field goal to start the week) and a wild 2024 prequel (Tigers won 29-26 in overtime). Brian Kelly and Lane Kiffin have a combined 8-0 record heading into Week 5, which is known as “LSU Week” around Mississippi right now.

Garrett Nussmeier and Trinidad Chambliss have taken drastically different paths to the SEC spotlight. The former was a leading preseason Heisman candidate, but he’s (relatively) underperformed to those high expectations. The latter was with Division-II Ferris State last season, only to step in as an injury replacement for Austin Simmons in Week 3. In two starts against Tulane and Arkansas, Chambliss has a pair of 300-yard games and three passing TDs to zero INTs. Kiffin has said Simmons is still the starter, though … if he’s healthy.

Best potential chaos agent: No. 1 Ohio State at Washington, 3:30 p.m. on CBS

Are the incumbent national champs going to lose to the unranked Washington Huskies? Maybe not. Could this game be more exhausting for the Buckeyes than anticipated? It remains to be seen, but the ingredients for a “what did we just watch?” are here in traces. The flight from Columbus to Seattle is a long one, and Husky Stadium is known as one of the loudest venues in the sport (by decibel readings). Washington has won 22 straight home games, while Julian Sayin has started in precisely zero college road games.

And offense-minded Huskies coach Jedd Fisch deploys a creative running scheme with lead back Jonah Coleman (FBS leader in rush TDs) and quarterback Demond Williams Jr. A close contest in the fourth quarter would spark attention all around the country.

Saturday sleeper: No. 15 Tennessee at Mississippi State, 4:15 on SEC Network

This is not a real sleeper, considering the scope of both programs and the Volunteers’ recent CFP stature. By the conference’s lofty standards, though, it’s basically the underground mixtape of SEC football this weekend. Tennessee was No. 15 when it fell to Georgia in that 44-41 OT all-timer, and it’s still No. 15 as it visits Starkville, where 4-0 Mississippi State awaits. Vols QB Joey Aguilar has been stacking up big passing numbers in the early going, with 12 touchdowns and nearly 1,200 yards in the first four games.

The last time MSU faced a ranked opponent, the Bulldogs beat then-No. 12 Arizona State thanks to a majestic 58-yard score from Blake Shapen to Brenen Thompson with 30 seconds remaining:

BRENEN THOMPSON FROM DEEP #HailState || 📺: ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/fiZ9TLW2qe

— Mississippi State Football (@HailStateFB) September 7, 2025

Saturday, evening windowBest on paper: No. 6 Oregon at No. 3 Penn State, 7:30 p.m. on NBC

The game of the week, at least by AP rankings. Top-six teams are met with NBC’s Big Ten production (and its Fall Out Boy exclusive theme song). Fear not, the on-field offering is about as big as it gets for September football. Both programs were CFP quarterfinalists a year ago, and they both harbor national title aspirations this time around. The Ducks and Nittany Lions are first and second, respectively, in the SP+ rankings; the projection model has them separated by 0.4 points. Dante Moore is thriving for Oregon, and his counterpart Drew Allar has NFL scouts studying his every dropback.

Best potential chaos agent: No. 17 Alabama at No. 5 Georgia, 7:30 p.m. on ABC

Two contemporary college football elites rightfully get the lead “SEC on ABC” slot, but they get our just-as-dignified “evening window chaos agent” honor, too. The lower-ranked team has won the past four meetings: No. 4 Alabama knocked off No. 2 Georgia last year, No. 8 Bama beat first-ranked Georgia in the 2023 SEC Championship Game, the Bulldogs topped the top-seeded Tide at the 2022 CFP National Championship, and Bryce Young and Nick Saban upset the touchdown-favorite Dawgs in 2021’s conference title match.

Kirby Smart’s 2025 squad has home-field advantage at Sanford Stadium and extra confidence after its blockbuster comeback against Tennessee. Kalen DeBoer will have a lot to answer for if his program has two losses before October.

Saturday (don’t fall a-) sleeper, Night Moves edition*: No. 25 BYU at Colorado, 10:15 p.m. on ESPN

*Presented by Bob Seger and Deion Sanders’ preferred campus cafe

BYU leads with its defense, which has allowed only 16 points in 12 quarters, and its ground game, which is seventh in the nation at 265.7 yards per game. Colorado rolls with Kaidon Salter, who went through a benching odyssey before shining in last week’s 37-20 win over Wyoming. Deion Sanders says that he’s not thinking about last year’s Cougars; he is, however, thinking about his old friend “Turtle.” As we say in each of these columns, Prime and his Buffs are nothing if not entertaining.

Updated Week 5 college football odds

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(Photo of Dante Moore: Ali Gradischer / Getty Images)