Predicting EVERY Week 5 FBS Matchup

The Oklahoma Sooners look to avenge last year’s loss to Notre Dame. (Credit Opertinicy)

Week 5 in the FBS subdivision of college football promises to be the most intriguing yet. Four different games feature head-to-head matchups of Top 25 teams, including two big SEC showdowns. #21 Ole Miss travels to Tuscaloosa to take on the #1 Crimson Tide of Alabama, and the #6 LSU Tigers look to knock off the #9 Georgia Bulldogs on the road.

In other marquee matchups, #14 Oklahoma looks to avenge last year’s loss to the Fighting Irish as they take on #22 Notre Dame in South Bend. #4 Ohio State will put its Big Ten supremacy on the line against the vaunted rushing attack of the #23 Wisconsin Badgers.

Other ranked teams face dangerous games during Week 5. Notably, #12 South Carolina must travel to the raucous campus of Central Florida, fresh off their victory over Penn State in Happy Valley. Also, the Washington Huskies put their #16 ranking on the line against the Arizona Wildcats and their 3rd ranked scoring defense.

We’re picking every game in this major Week 5 slate of college football action, so let’s get to it!

2013 NCAA football week 5: Top 25 picks

#1 Alabama over #21 Ole Miss. Mississippi is a team on the rise, due to an outstanding 2013 recruiting class which included DE Robert Nkemdiche. WR Vince Sanders also returns for the Rebels, who will need him to stretch the field vertically. But Ole Miss is thin at linebacker, something that doesn’t bode well when (not if) T.Y. Yeldon starts breaking runs to the second level. Alabama stays undefeated.

#2 Oregon over California. The Golden Bears have been fiesty at home, playing teams like Northwestern pretty tough but fading at the end. So it’s no surprise that we think that… wait, what? California’s on the road? Oh. Yikes. The Ducks rip Cal by 30+.

#3 Clemson over Wake Forest. Wake Forest has a few strong players, most notably NT Nikita Whitlock, who terrorized Army almost single-handedly last week. But Tajh Boyd and Clemson will be out to prove that last week’s escape at NC State was a fluke, not a trend. Clemson wins.

#4 Ohio State over #23 Wisconsin. If Melvin Gordon and Wisconsin’s ground game get it going early, the Buckeyes may be in for a long afternoon (and we may be asking ourselves how big that referee snafu at Arizona State really was). But Ohio State features the nation’s 14th best rush defense, giving up under 3.6 yards per carry, and Braxton Miller returns. Ohio State wins – by less than 10.

#5 Stanford over Washington State. Washington State has proven it can knock off a ranked opponent (whether that team was truly top-25 caliber or not) by defeating USC earlier this year. But Stanford is not USC, and their methodical approach will wear the Cougars out. Stanford breaks open a close game after halftime and wins by 20+.

#9 Georgia over #6 LSU. This one has all the makings of the game of the week. LSU QB Zach Mettenberger may be the most improved quarterback in the nation, and new LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron has opened up the Tigers’ offensive playbook. But beating South Carolina earlier this year was a huge deal for Georgia QB Aaron Murray, who now firmly believes he can beat top 10 opponents. If this one was in Death Valley, we’d take the Tigers. But Georgia will win, by a late field goal, at home.

#8 Florida State over Boston College. No one has been able to stop Jameis Winston yet. Boston College has a pretty solid defense, which gives up less than 20 points per game. Trouble is, BC’s offense averages less than 19 per game itself. The Seminoles hold Boston College to 13 points in a victory.

#10 Texas A&M over Arkansas. Arkansas had plenty of early opportunities to seize a victory at Rutgers last week but couldn’t capitalize, ultimately falling 28-24. If the Razorbacks and Bret Bielema couldn’t beat the Scarlet Knights and Gary Nova… Johnny Manziel and the Aggies win comfortably.

#11 Oklahoma State over West Virginia. West Virginia just got embarrassed by the suddenly-explosive Maryland Terrapins (who should be ranked, by the way) last week. Their reward? A date with the #11 Cowboys, who boast both a top-20 scoring offense and scoring defense. J.W. Walsh should have a nice afternoon. Oklahoma State wins at West Virginia.

#12 South Carolina over Central Florida. It seems like every trendy upset pick this week features UCF stunning South Carolina. Don’t buy into the hype. Yes, Central Florida has started the season a solid 3-0, including a win over the ghost-of-the-shell-of-what-was-once Penn State. But the Gamecocks cannot afford a non-conference loss (or another loss in general) if they have legitimate BCS hopes. UCF will start strong but fade as South Carolina’s defense dominates in a win.

#14 Oklahoma over #22 Notre Dame. Look, the cards seem to be in Notre Dame’s favor. They get this game at home, with a few tough Big Ten victories under their belt and the specter of last season’s victory over the Sooners in the air. But the fact remains… Oklahoma is just better. Oklahoma wants this win at Notre Dame badly, and they’ll get it.

#15 Miami over South Florida. Miami has beaten Florida, and racked up 77 points last week against Savannah State. South Florida is 0-3 and let McNeese State over the FCS drop 53 on their heads. Wake us up when the Hurricanes play Georgia Tech next week. Miami steamrolls the Bulls.

#16 Washington over Arizona. The Huskies are perhaps the most surprising team of this young 2013 FBS season, and one of the most fun to watch. Keith Price is a legitimate star at QB, and the Huskies will overcome a strong Arizona defense as the game progresses. Washington and Stanford will both be undefeated when the teams meet October 5. Washington wins a low-scoring battle.

#20 Florida over Kentucky. Jeff Driskel is gone for the season, which makes the Gators vulnerable this week. Kentucky’s just not the team to capitalize. But Florida’s next six games (Arkansas, at LSU, at Missouri, Georgia, Vandy and at South Carolina) won’t be fun. Florida wins – for now.

#25 Fresno State over Hawaii. Congratulations to the Bulldogs for overcoming the curse of Boise State and seizing control of the Mountain West Conference. With a win over Rutgers (and potentially a win over Colorado if and when those teams reschedule), Fresno State may be the final BCS buster of the BCS era – but they’ll have to go undefeated to do so. Fresno State continues their quest with a win.

2013 NCAA football week 5: all other FBS picks

Virginia Tech over Georgia Tech

Tulsa over Iowa State

Utah State over San Jose State

BYU over MTSU

Illinois over Miami (OH)

Northern Illinois over Purdue

SMU over TCU

Tennessee over South Alabama

East Carolina over North Carolina

Virginia over Pittsburgh

Western Kentucky over Navy

Bowling Green over Akron

Duke over Troy

Oregon State over Colorado

Ball State over Toledo

Colorado State over UTEP

Iowa over Minnesota

NC State over Central Michigan

Buffalo over Connecticut

Army over Louisiana Tech

Houston over UTSA

Temple over Idaho

Old Dominion over Albany

Rice over Florida Atlantic

Texas State over Wyoming

Louisiana-Monroe over Tulane

Kent State over Western Michigan

Missouri over Arkansas State

Vanderbilt over UAB

Boise State over Southern Miss

San Diego State over New Mexico STate

New Mexico over UNLV

Air Force over Nevada

USC over Arizona State

2013 FBS football predictions, year-to-date

Week 4 Predictions: 20-2

2013 FBS Predictions, To Date: 71-10