Week 5 of the College Football season is set to kick off on Thursday night, and we’ve got a pretty loaded slate in front of us.

Thursday kicks off with a Conference USA showdown between Western Kentucky and New Mexico State, and one hour later, North Texas and Tulsa will duke it out in the AAC. Then on Friday, we get treated to an undefeated matchup between Pitt and Virginia Tech before we get into the thick of the schedule on Saturday, where there are three top-25 matchups.

It should be a very entertaining week of college football, so let’s get into some predictions.

Pitt at Virginia Tech

The James Franklin hype train is at full force in Blacksburg. In his first year with Virginia Tech, he has the Hokies at 4-0 and set to host another undefeated ACC team, Pitt. This is actually the first time in CFB history that two power conference teams are 4-0 and facing off as unranked opponents, but after this week, one of them very well may be ranked.

Neither team has played the toughest schedule in the world through four weeks, but all that matters is you win. Vegas has VT as 2.5-point favorites, and with home-field advantage factored in, that means they don’t see much between these teams. They’re both looking to start ACC play 2-0, but only one of them can, and I’m betting on James Franklin’s squad.

Final Score: Virginia Tech 28, Pitt 23

Penn State at Northwestern

Coming into the season, this matchup didn’t seem all that exciting. Penn State was entering a new era, but Northwestern, who hasn’t won 10+ games since 2017, shouldn’t be a match for the Nittany Lions, right? Well, after Penn State lost to Wisconsin and Northwestern took Indiana to the wire, this game could be pretty interesting.

Penn State’s offense looked pretty good through three weeks before Wisconsin held them to 20 points and 114 passing yards, and now they play a Northwestern defense that did a very good job holding Josh Hoover down. If Penn State wants to win this game, they’re going to have to run the ball as efficiently as Indiana did, and luckily for them, they’ve been pretty good on the ground this season. I think they pulled out a close one.

Final Score: Penn State 24, Northwestern 20

West Virginia at Iowa State

West Virginia and Iowa State have three combined losses this season, all of which have come to ranked opponents. If you remove those games, they’re 5-0 with an average winning margin of 27.8 points. These are two really solid teams that seem to be pretty equal on paper, and Vegas agrees with Iowa State being a 3-point favorite on home turf.

This game should be close, but I’m going to give the nod to the visiting team. West Virginia has the most efficient run game in college football, averaging over 270 yards per game on the ground, and taking 5-7 yard chunks out of your opponent and extending drives is one of the best ways to take a crowd out of a game. Give me the Mountaineers in the upset.

Final Score: WVU 25, Iowa State 24

Michigan at Minnesota

Minnesota is not a team to sleep on this year. They’re not usually a massive threat, winning an average of eight games over the last four years, but they proved they came to play in 2026 when they took down Washington last week. Now, they get the chance to topple another College Football juggernaut in Michigan on Saturday.

The Wolverines should be 2-2 entering this game if it weren’t for one of the biggest referee blunders of all time, and a big reason is that their multi-million dollar quarterback doesn’t seem to know how to throw a football. Okay, that was a bit harsh, but Bryce Underwood has been incredibly underwhelming since arriving in Ann Arbor, and if P.J. Fleck’s team does one thing well, it’s play defense.

Michigan should win this football game, but I think Minnesota has a real shot at pulling off the upset in front of their home crowd, so I’m rolling with the Golden Gophers.

Final Score: Minnesota 20, Michigan 17

(7) Alabama at (16) Mississippi State

This is the game of the week, which is crazy to say about a Mississippi State game, but Kamario Taylor has breathed new life into this program and has taken them to heights they haven’t seen since 2022. It’s crazy to say it, but they have a real shot of taking down No. 7 Alabama at home this weekend.

But it won’t be easy. Alabama has an explosive offense of its own, led by Keelon Russell, who has been basically flawless, totaling over 1,300 yards of offense with 11 total touchdowns and two interceptions through four weeks. They also have a very strong run game with Daniel Hill, who is averaging 4.9 yards per carry, and EJ Crowell, who is averaging 6.7 yards per carry. This is arguably the best team Kalen DeBoer has assembled in Tuscaloosa, so it should be an absolute battle at Miss. State this weekend.

As much as I want to go with the Bulldogs, I can’t bet against Alabama in this game. I think the moment will be too big for Taylor and Co.

Final Score: Alabama 35, Mississippi State 28

(3) Notre Dame at UNC

This game is going to have a ton of storylines because it’s Bill Belichick against a top-five opponent, but there’s no world where this game is close. Notre Dame is clearly the better team in every phase of the game, so they should march into Chapel Hill and dominate UNC.

Final Score: Notre Dame 40, UNC 17

Vanderbilt at (2) Georgia

Once upon a time, Vanderbilt had a quarterback named Diego Pavia and was a sneaky good football team. They won seven games in 2024, including a massive upset over No. 1 Alabama, before going 10-3 and posting one of the program’s best years in 2025. However, they are not the same team this year.

Vandy started off 3-0, but they beat Austin Peay, Delaware, and NC State. Once they faced some real competition in Auburn, they scored just 15 points and suffered their first loss of the season. Now they have to go to Georgia, which I think is the best team in the SEC, and try to take down the Bulldogs. Good luck.

Final Score: Georgia 45, Vanderbilt 14

Virginia at Florida State

UVA vs FSU should be a fantastic matchup. Both teams came into 2026 with high hopes – Virginia was ranked after a massive Week 1 win over N.C. State and FSU were hoping to get back to their prior form with an explosive offense, but both teams are a bit disappointed. UVA lost an 11-point game at home to West Virginia, and while FSU has kept their two ranked matchups close, they haven’t been able to get the job done. But now these two will meet in Tallahassee in what should be a fun game.

Both of these teams have offenses capable of putting up a lot of points. The Cavaliers rank 24th with 34.3 PPG, while Florida State ranks 41st with 31.3 PPG. Vegas agrees this will be a pretty high-scoring matchup, with the over/under set at 51.5 points. The Cavaliers are slight favorites in this game, but I’ve liked what I’ve seen out of FSU in their narrow losses to Alabama and SMU, so I’m riding with the home team.

Final Score: FSU 30, UVA 28

(5) Ohio State at (14) Iowa

Rounding out our predictions today is what should be one of the best matchups of the week, Ohio State vs Iowa. College Gameday will be in Iowa City for the first time in 20 years for this matchup, so the atmosphere around Kinnick Stadium is going to be electric.

This is going to be a defensive ball game. Iowa is averaging just 18 PPG against Power Five opponents, but its defense gives up just 10.7 PPG, which ranks fourth in the nation. Meanwhile, Ohio State’s offense is pretty explosive, but they also have an exceptional defense that has allowed 12.3 PPG, which ranks seventh.

The only way Iowa wins this game is if they grind out a 13-10 victory, but I think Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith will be just too much for them to handle.

Final Score: Ohio State 23, Iowa 10