College Football: Week 5 Polls and Schedule

Unlike last week, there aren’t any obvious blowouts on this week’s schedule. I don[t see anyone on the list below posting 70 points or more. Fifty-plus maybe, but not 70. There are no FCS teams either. There ARE quite a few games pairing ranked teams—four of them. There are also several undefeated and unranked teams playing ranked opponents which could offer some surprises. At the end of the day there could be a whole lot of shaking going on. Especially if there are a couple of upsets. A lot of teams are idle this week, too.

The early games (Thursday and Friday) include VA Tech (3-1) at Georgia Tech (3-0) on ESPN Thursday and while neither team is ranked, that game looks interesting. Friday night, Middle Tennessee (3-1) goes to Salt Lake City to face a struggling BYU team (1-2). Although they are 21 point underdogs, The Blue Raiders could surprise. That game is on ESPNU.

The numbers on the left are the rankings in the Associated Press Poll and the Coaches’ Poll. (CBSSports does a preseason poll but then waits a few weeks to weigh in on a regular basis—or at least they did last year.) NR means the team is “Not Ranked” in that particular poll. The team’s current record is in parentheses following their name.

1/1 Alabama (3-0) The Crimson Tide will host #21 Ole Miss (3-0) this weekend. Someone has to finally lose. I think it will be the Rebels but with Bama’s defense being so shaky earlier this year, it might take a whole lot of offense.

2/2 Oregon (3-0) The Ducks host the California Golden Bears (1-2) who haven’t been so golden so far. The Ducks should roll to an easy victory in this one…again.

3/4 Clemson (3-0) The Tigers host Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-2). Clemson got off to a slow start last week against NC State. They won’t repeat that mistake this week against Wake. Boyd will have a big day.

4/3 Ohio State (4-0) The Buckeyes host the # 23 Badgers of Wisconsin (3-1). This could be an upset but the Buckeyes have a little too much talent. If they play mistake free ball they win at home.

5/5 Stanford (3-0) The Cardinal travel up the coast to play at Washington State (3-1). The Wildcats are much improved from recent seasons, but don’t think they’ve enough talent to defeat the Cardinal. Stanford wins on the road barring any turnovers.

6/6 LSU (4-0) The Tigers travel to Atlanta to face the #9 Georgia Bulldogs (2-1). This will be a huge test for the Tigers and I think that the Bulldogs will prove to be a wee bit too much to handle. It could come down to the Tigers’ special teams and this week they will not prevail. ‘Dogs by a TD.

7/7 Louisville (4-0) The Cardinals have this week off.

8/8 Florida State (3-0) The Seminoles head north to play the Boston College Eagles (2-1). Look for Jameis Winston to have another big game.

9/10 Georgia (2-1) The Bulldogs host the #6 LSU Tigers (4-0). I pick the ‘Dogs in this one. See above.

10/9 Texas A&M (3-1) The Aggies Head to Arkansas to face the 3-1 Razorbacks. Will Johnny play more than three quarters? Not if he watches what Rutgers’ Nova did to the Hogs in the fourth quarter last week. Aggies have pulled pork for dinner.

11/11 Oklahoma State (3-0) The Cowboys head for the hills to play the West Virginia Mountaineers (2-2). The Cowboys win convincingly as WVA continues to struggle in this rebuilding season.

12/13 South Carolina (2-1) The Gamecocks head south to face the Knights of UCF (3-0). I’ll be rooting for UCF but logic tells me that it will be South Carolina. It will be played within sight of Disneyland, however.

13/14 UCLA (3-0) The Bruins have this week off.

14/12 Oklahoma (3-0) The Sooners head to North Bend to play the #22 Fighting Irish (3-1). Notre Dame has had its struggles in the early going—as has Oklahoma. The Sooners’ defense will prove to be the difference here as they manage to rattle Rees.

15/15 Miami (Fla.) (3-0) The Canes play at the home of the 0-3 Bulls of South Florida—who have looked awful. If Miami shows up and doesn’t mail it in, this will be over by halftime. If they get complacent, it will still be a Canes win.

16/20 Washington (3-0) The Huskies host the Arizona Wildcats (3-0). Should be a good game but the Huskies will prevail in the end.

17/16 Northwestern (4-0) The Wildcats have the weekend off.

18/17 Michigan (4-0) The Wolverines also have the weekend off.

19/18 Baylor (3-0) Add the Bears to the list of idle teams this weekend.

20/19 Florida (2-1) The Gators head inland to play at the home of the Kentucky Wildcats (1-2). Chomp! Chomp! Gators win.

21/21 Ole Miss (3-0) The Rebels play at the home of #1 Alabama Crimson Tide (3-0). Roll Tide. More above.

22/22 Notre Dame (3-1) The Irish host the #14 Oklahoma Sooners (3-0). The Irish will go down but not without a fight. It will come down to mistakes and the Sooners will cause more than they commit. See above for more.

23/24 Wisconsin (3-1) The Badgers are on the road playing the #4 Ohio State Buckeyes (4-0). Could be an upset but not likely. OSU has too much talent regardless of who is at QB.

24/25 Texas Tech (4-0) The Red Raiders will be idle this week.

25/23 Fresno State (3-0) The Bulldogs head out to Hawaii (0-3) for a Sunday game. FSU has won two of its three games by one point. They score a lot of them but give up almost as many. Still, their QB, Derek Carr has completed nearly 69% of his pass attempts and tossed 12 TD passes vs just one INT in three games. There should be a lot more talk about his performance. Too bad their rush offense really stinks. Still, they are more than a match for the Rainbow Warriors.