Four Associated Press Top 25 matchups headline the Week 5 college football schedule, and at least a half-dozen other games involving ranked teams are equally intriguing.
The only meeting of top-10 teams happens Saturday night when No. 3 Oregon visits No. 6 Penn State for a Big Ten showdown.
The Southeastern Conference has co-main events. No. 17 Alabama travels to No. 5 Georgia and No. 4 LSU goes to No. 13 Mississippi. The Crimson Tide have won nine of the last 10 meetings with Georgia, and the Tigers and Rebels have split their last four.
The other Top 25 game has No. 21 Southern California at No. 23 Illinois for a game that lost some luster following Indiana's 53-point demolition of the Illini.
The week's undercard is really good, too.
Washington, 3-0 and a winner of 22 straight at home, hosts No. 1 Ohio State. Auburn, which won a four-overtime thriller against Texas A&M last year, goes on the road to play the No. 9 Aggies. No. 14 Iowa State goes for a second straight 5-0 start when it plays Arizona at home.
No. 15 Tennessee heads to Mississippi State, which at 4-0 already has doubled its 2024 win total. No. 22 Notre Dame is at Arkansas for the first meeting between the teams. No. 24 TCU, which has its first regular-season ranking since 2022, visits defending Big 12 champion Arizona State.
Best game
No. 6 Oregon (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) at No. 3 Penn State (3-0), 7:30 p.m. ET (NBC)
Oregon beat Penn State in the 2024 Big Ten championship game, and the Nittany Lions were the media's preseason pick to win the title in 2025. Neither team will have been tested until they square off Saturday night in Happy Valley.
The Ducks have outscored their opponents by an average of 51-9, their closest game a 20-point road win against Northwestern in their Big Ten opener. The Nittany Lions have won their first three games by an average of 44-6 and no opponent has come closer than 34 points.
Look out for big plays, or a lack of them. Oregon is among the national leaders with 31 plays of at least 20 yards. Penn State has allowed just two through three games.
Under the radar
Louisville (3-0) at Pittsburgh (2-1), Noon ET (ESPN2)
Pittsburgh has had an extra week to stew over its disappointing loss to West Virginia and would like nothing more than to vent some frustration in its ACC opener against the Cardinals.
Look for this to be a defensive battle. Pitt is giving up an ACC-low 3.96 yards per play. Louisville has the ACC's best pass defense.
Pitt leads the series 11-10, including 3-2 since Louisville joined the ACC in 2014. The Cardinals haven't won in Pittsburgh since 2012, when both schools were in the Big East.
Recommended for you
Heisman watch
Two straight games with five touchdown passes have caused Indiana's Fernando Mendoza to surge in the wagering markets for the Heisman Trophy winner. Mendoza, who was listed at 55-to-1 odds by BetMGM Sportsbook last week, is now 9-to-1 and the public's second choice behind Oklahoma's John Mateer.
Mendoza, who plays at Iowa on Saturday, was 21 for 23 for 267 yards while playing the first three quarters of last week's 63-10 rout of Illinois. He has completed 40 of 43 passes for 537 yards and 10 touchdowns the last two weeks and has 14 TD passes and no interceptions through four games.
Mateer, at 7-to-1 odds, was scheduled to have hand surgery Wednesday and is expected to return this season. He's averaging 303 yards per game passing to lead the Southeastern Conference and ranks fourth among SEC quarterbacks in rushing with 47.5 yards per game. He has thrown for six TDs and run for five.
Numbers to know
0 — Sacks allowed by Cincinnati entering its game at Kansas.
13 — Sacks by Kansas, tied for most in the Big 12.
219 — Indiana's point total through four games, most in any four-game stretch in program history.
1959 — Last time North Texas began a season 5-0, which would be its record if it beats South Alabama at home.
1989 — Last time Kansas State began a season 1-4, which would be its record if it loses to UCF at home.
Hot seat
Arkansas coach Sam Pittman has been on the hot seat more often than not since his 2023 team lost eight of its last 10 games. He was given some grace last year for a midseason win over a top-five Tennessee, but all that capital has been spent after what happened at Memphis.
The Razorbacks led 28-10 late in the first half last Saturday and lost 32-31 after they committed red-zone turnovers on two of their last three series. Arkansas' first loss to a non-power conference team since 2022 dropped Pittman to 32-33 in six seasons.
Pittman has a unique buyout clause that pays him more if his record since 2021 is .500 or better at the time of his firing. Entering the Notre Dame game, Pittman is 29-26 since 2021. His above-.500 buyout at the end of the season would be about $9 million; his below-.500 buyout would be about $6 million.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.