College Football Today: Week 5 Scores, Top 25 Games to Watch Now

The first month of the 2026 college football season is in the books, and as October begins already there is plenty of drama around who is a contender and a pretender as the major conference hopefuls jockey for position against quality competition.

Today finds six ranked-on-ranked matchups, including two in the SEC and another in the Big Ten, that College Football Playoff selectors will undoubtedly be paying very close attention to.

College Football Today: Week 5 Scores, Schedule for Saturday

All times Eastern, and game lines are courtesy of DraftKings

LIVE: Week 5 College Football Scores from Sports Illustrated

Early College Football Games

College Football Today: Week 5 Scores, Top 25 Games to Watch Now — IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

A major early-season test between ranked SEC contenders kicks off in the echo of cowbells as sudden 4-0 insurgent Mississippi State defends its home field against perfect Alabama in a battle of two of college football’s best quarterbacks, as Kamario Taylor and Keelon Russell face off.

Bill Belichick is already having his job at North Carolina questioned amid subpar results on the field and some prominent resignations from the program, but he has a win against Clemson in his back pocket, for what that’s worth, and a chance to throw a wrench into the top of the poll against the undefeated Irish.

3 Notre Dame at North Carolina
Sat., Oct. 3 | 12 p.m. | ESPN
Line: Notre Dame -21

7 Alabama at 16 Mississippi State
Sat., Oct. 3 | 12 p.m. | ABC
Line: Alabama -5.5

UCF at 20 Houston
Sat., Oct. 3 | 12 p.m. | ESPN2
Line: Houston -10.5

Boston College at 21 SMU
Sat., Oct. 3 | 12 p.m. | The CW
Line: SMU -21

Vanderbilt at 2 Georgia
Sat., Oct. 3 | 12:45 p.m. | SECN
Line: Georgia -25.5

Afternoon College Football Schedule

The game of the week could be in the Big Ten between the ranked Buckeyes and Hawkeyes. The last time Ohio State was at Iowa was 2017, when the home team unleashed a stunning 55-24 rout against the third-ranked national title hopefuls, and now Kirk Ferentz is coming off a last-second win at Michigan and looking to give another B1G blue-blood a black eye.

And in the SEC, another pair of ranked teams square off as undefeated Florida is coming off a dominant win against top-five Ole Miss behind a potent ground attack against a Missouri squad already with one loss on the year and desperate to avoid an 0-2 start in conference play.

5 Ohio State at 14 Iowa
Sat., Oct. 3 | 3:30 p.m. | CBS
Line: Ohio State -14.5

8 Florida at 25 Missouri
Sat., Oct. 3 | 3:30 p.m. | ABC
Line: Florida -5.5

Auburn at 17 Tennessee
Sat., Oct. 3 | 3:30 p.m. | ESPN
Line: Tennessee -6.5

24 Kentucky at South Carolina
Sat., Oct. 3 | 4:15 p.m. | SECN
Line: South Carolina -2.5

Primetime College Football Games

Most fans have basically given up on Clemson at this point, not only this season but as a program in apparent decline under Dabo Swinney’s leadership. Long gone are those early playoff dynasty days, but they can still change the narrative at any time.

Playing at home against an elite Miami that is the clear favorite for the ACC championship is a perfect venue to do that. Good luck stopping Darian Mensah, the Hurricanes quarterback who is hitting 89 percent of his passes and hasn’t thrown an interception yet.

10 BYU at TCU
Sat., Oct. 3 | 7 p.m. | ESPN
Line: BYU -6

4 Miami at Clemson
Sat., Oct. 3 | 7:30 p.m. | ABC
Line: Miami -15.5

12 Texas Tech at Colorado
Sat., Oct. 3 | 7:30 p.m. | Fox
Line: Texas Tech -13.5

Washington at 18 USC
Sat., Oct. 3 | 7:30 p.m. | NBC
Line: USC -8.5

Utah State at 22 Boise State
Sat., Oct. 3 | 7:30 p.m. | CBSSN
Line: Boise State -19.5

McNeese at 11 LSU
Sat., Oct. 3 | 7:45 p.m. | SECN
Line: LSU-52.5

6 Indiana at Rutgers
Sat., Oct. 3 | 8 p.m. | BTN
Line: Indiana -24.5

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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