BIG 10 FOOTBALL THIS WEEK
Eight games are on the docket for Week 5 of the 2026 season, including a top-15 battle of the unbeatens between No. 5 Ohio State and No. 14 Iowa at 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS. ESPN’s College GameDay will make its return to Iowa City for the second time in the show’s history and first time since 2006.
Dating back to the 2025 campaign, Indiana has won 20 straight games to become the 11th program in Big Ten history with at least 20 consecutive wins (including bowl and Big Ten Championship Game records). The Hoosiers are on the longest active streak in FBS and are the third Big Ten team with 20 straight wins since 2012-13.
Northwestern will open its New Ryan Field on Friday night against Penn State in front of a sellout crowd. The 35,000-capacity stadium will usher in a new era that returns Wildcats football to Central Street for the first time in 1,049 days, 100 years after its predecessor opened.
With a 54-3 win over Maryland, UCLA recorded its largest conference road win since 1955 at Washington State (+55) with a +51-scoring margin. Head coach Bob Chesney is just the second first-year UCLA head coach to start the season 4-0, joining Henry “Red” Sanders (1949).
The Big Ten had 12 teams included in this week’s AP and 13 in the US LBM Coaches Polls. The AP poll featured No. 5 Ohio State, No. 6 Indiana, No. 14 Iowa, No. 15 Oregon, No. 18 USC and No. 23 UCLA, while Wisconsin, Penn State, Michigan, Nebraska, Minnesota and Northwestern received votes. Iowa, Oregon, USC and UCLA’s rankings remained the same in the coaches’ poll with shifts for No. 5 Indiana, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 22 Penn State and No. 24 Michigan. Nebraska, Wisconsin, Washington, Northwestern and Minnesota also earned votes.
The Big Ten Football Players of the Week were announced Monday with Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith being named Offensive Player of the Week. Smith had a career day against Illinois with 12 catches, 217 yards and four touchdowns. He became the only player in Buckeye history to surpass 3,000 receiving yards and ranks 10th in Big Ten history (3,175). Smith has 34 receiving TDs in his career, which ties for fifth in Big Ten history. Smith’s 217 yards tied for sixth most in a single game in Ohio State history and he is tied for second behind 14 games with at least 100 receiving yards.
Minnesota’s Maverick Baranowski was selected as the Defensive Player of the Week after tying for the team lead with seven tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss in a 27-24 win at Washington. The linebacker also added 1.0 sacks and his first career interception.
Fellow Gopher Luke Drzewiecki was tabbed as the Big Ten’s Special Teams Player of the Week. Drzewiecki was 2-of-2 on field goals, converting from 31 and a career-long 51 yards. His 51-yarder proved to be the game-winner against the Huskies. Drzewiecki finished with nine points for Minnesota.
With a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in Iowa’s 20-19 road victory at No. 18 Michigan, Braeden Jackson earned Freshman of the Week recognition. The running back’s return is tied for the seventh-longest kickoff return for a touchdown in program history and helped the Hawkeyes earn their first win over a ranked Michigan squad on the road since 2002.
The 2026 Discover Big Ten Championship Game will be played on Saturday, December 5, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and will be broadcast by FOX. The winner will represent the conference as the Automatic Qualifier (AQ) to the College Football Playoff.
Abbott and the Big Ten Conference kicked off Season 3 of the We Give Blood drive on August 26. Donations are tracked in real-time until December 4. The school with the most donations at the end will be announced on December 5 at the 2026 Discover Big Ten Championship Game. Every donation can help save up to three lives — and someone in the U.S. needs blood every two seconds. The leaderboard can be found on page 6.
Indiana captured its first national title last season with a 27-21 victory over Miami (Fla.) in the 2026 College Football Playoff at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Fla. The Hoosiers capped off the season as the only team in college football history to go 16-0.
The Big Ten has claimed three consecutive College Football Playoff championships by three different universities (Indiana 2026, Ohio State 2025, Michigan 2024).
With national championships in football and men’s and women’s basketball, the Big Ten became the second conference to sweep football and basketball national titles since 1981-82. The Big Ten is the only conference to achieve the feat with three different schools.
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SEC WEEK 5: NO. 7 ALABAMA VISITS NO. 16 MISSISSIPPI STATE IN UNBEATEN RANKED MATCHUP
Things to watch this week in the Southeastern Conference:
Game of the week
No. 7 Alabama (4-0, 2-0 SEC) at No. 16 Mississippi State (4-0, 2-0), Saturday, noon ET (ABC)
A ranked showdown between two of the five remaining undefeated SEC teams.
It’s the biggest challenge of the season for an Alabama team that has yet to face a ranked opponent. Alabama comes off a 49-18 rout of South Carolina, in which quarterback Keelon Russell threw for 364 yards and four touchdowns. The sophomore has impressed through his first four starts, leading an offense averaging 48 points per game.
Mississippi State has quickly emerged as one of the SEC’s most exciting teams, led by quarterback Kamario Taylor. The Bulldogs are coming off their first ranked win of the season, a 31-24 victory over Missouri. Running back Fluff Bothwell has improved each week and rushed for a season-high 122 yards in the win.
Mississippi State leads the SEC in yards per game (533.3) and ranks fourth in points per game (43) under Taylor. Alabama is a 6-point favorite.
The undercard
No. 8 Florida (4-0, 2-0) at No. 25 Missouri (3-1, 0-1), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Florida cracked the top 10 for the first time since 2021 after a 52-28 win over then-No. 4 Ole Miss. Running back Jadan Baugh has paced the Gators’ offense with 600 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, both conference highs. Transfer quarterback Aaron Philo is completing 72.4% of his passes for 917 yards and seven touchdowns while adding three rushing scores.
Missouri also has a transfer quarterback in former Ole Miss starter Austin Simmons, who has thrown for 947 yards and 11 touchdowns. Cayden Lee has emerged as his top target with 27 catches for 412 yards and four touchdowns.
The Tigers remain without star running back Ahmad Hardy, who has yet to return to full practice after a gunshot wound to his upper leg in May. Jamal Roberts has taken on the majority of the carries instead.
The Gators were 5.5-point favorites at midweek.
Impact players
— Chris Cole: The Georgia linebacker earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week after recording eight tackles, a sack and two fumble recoveries — one of which he returned 85 yards for a touchdown — in a 41-13 win against Oklahoma.
— Deuce Geralds: The LSU freshman defensive tackle had five tackles and a career-high two sacks for a loss of 11 yards, helping the Tigers hold Texas A&M to just 11 first downs and 197 yards in a 35-6 win.
— Colin Simmons: The Texas defensive lineman set a program record with 5.5 sacks against Tennessee, the most by a single player in an FBS game since 2019. Simmons now leads the SEC with 7.5 sacks, just ahead of LSU standout Princewill Umanmielen.
A look at the numbers
The SEC has five remaining undefeated teams: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State and Texas. … Georgia’s offense has averaged a conference-high 54.8 points per game while holding opponents to a second-best 232.5 yards through four outings. …LSU’s defense leads the pack, allowing 226.8 yards per game .. Gunner Stockton leads the conference with a 74.3 completion percentage. … Kamario Taylor has a conference-high 14 passing touchdowns. … Ten of the SEC’s 16 teams are ranked in the AP Top 25: Texas (1), Georgia (2), Alabama (7), Florida (8), Ole Miss (9), LSU (11), Mississippi State (16), Tennessee (17), Kentucky (24), Missouri (25).
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COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICKS: COACHES KNOW ALL TOO WELL SEASONS CAN TURN AGAINST MOST UNLIKELY OPPONENTS
Sometimes a team just has another team’s number, until it doesn’t. That’s part of what makes college football so fun.
Several matchups on Saturday pit teams in The Associated Press Top 25 that have had seasons ruined by an upset loss to opponents they otherwise dominated for years. Sometimes the loss fueled the fire for the future.
Ohio State, for instance, has won seven of the last eight games and 15 of 17 against Iowa. But you can be sure coach Ryan Day remembers 2017 in Iowa City when, as Urban Meyer’s co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, the Hawkeyes put a 55-24 playoff-hopes-killing whipping on a third-ranked Buckeyes team.
Day was asked about that game Tuesday, and he recounted a few details. He also pointed out it has no practical use in helping preparations this week other than it can be used to remind the current team how challenging it is to play at Kinnick Stadium.
Georgia has won six in a row and 25 of 28 against Vanderbilt, but the 17-16 home loss to the Commodores is still remembered as the low point of Kirby Smart’s first season. It also turned out to be the launc pad for reaching the national championship game the next year and winning 11-plus games eight of the next nine seasons along with two titles.
Notre Dame has won 11 of 12 against North Carolina and five straight since the pivotal 29-24 loss in 2008 that began Charlie Weis’ free fall as coach. The Fighting Irish went into Chapel Hill 4-1 and Weis looked to be on the rebound from a disastrous three-win 2007. The loss to the Tar Heels started an 11-20 stretch that cost Weis his job the next year.
Ah, memories.
The picks for FBS vs. FBS games, with rankings and betting lines. All games Saturday unless noted:
Vanderbilt (plus 24 1/2) at No. 2 Georgia
This matchup offers a delicious storyline: Vanderbilt five-star freshman QB Jared Curtis de-committed from Georgia in December and now goes to Sanford Stadium to play the team he jilted.
Pick: Georgia 38-21.
No. 3 Notre Dame (minus 21) at North Carolina
Notre Dame is the first top-five opponent to visit Chapel Hill since a then-No. 2 Irish won by two TDs in 2020. Carolina is going to struggle to move the ball against the nation’s No. 1 defense.
Pick: Notre Dame 42-10.
No. 4 Miami at Clemson (plus 16 1/2)
Clemson gave up seven pass plays of 20-plus yards in the opener against LSU and a total of five over the next three games. Miami’s Malachi Toney is the national co-leader with 11 receptions for 20 yards or longer.
Pick: Miami 33-19.
No. 5 Ohio State at Iowa (plus 14)
Hawkeyes have the ability to draw opponents into their style of game, which is why they have lost by two touchdowns or more at home just once since 2014.
Pick: Ohio State 24-14.
No. 6 Indiana (minus 24 1/2) at Rutgers
Hoosiers got challenged at home by Northwestern and dropped a spot in the poll for a second straight week. They might take out some frustration against an easy mark.
Pick: Indiana 52-14.
No. 7 Alabama at No. 16 Mississippi State (plus 6)
Great matchup of the best homegrown QBs in the SEC in Keelon Brown and Kamario Taylor. Bulldogs going for their highest-ranked home win in 10 years.
Pick: Mississippi State 35-31.
No. 8 Florida at No. 25 Missouri (plus 5 1/2)
No one has been able to stop the Gators’ Jadan Baugh-led rushing attack, at least not yet. Missouri is allowing 2.77 yards per carry, the third-best mark in the SEC.
Pick: Missouri 27-24.
No. 10 BYU (minus 6 1/2) at TCU
TCU has scored a combined 23 points against its two Power Four opponents. BYU’s defense will have its ears pinned back going after Jaden Craig, who was sacked four times and threw two interceptions in loss to UCF.
Pick: BYU 33-17.
No. 12 Texas Tech (minus 12 1/2) at Colorado
Red Raiders are unbeaten and ranked in the top 15, yet they are far from playing their best ball. Buffaloes might have peaked in their opener against Georgia Tech.
Pick: Texas Tech 38-21.
Auburn at No. 17 Tennessee (minus 7)
Keep an eye on how Volunteers QB Faizon Brandon responds to taking 10 sacks against Texas. That would mess with any quarterback’s mind, let alone a freshman’s.
Pick: Tennessee 27-19.
Washington at No. 18 Southern California (minus 9 1/2)
Washington is on road for first time. The good news for the defensively challenged Trojans is the Huskies’ offense isn’t nearly as powerful as the one they faced in Oregon.
Pick: USC 40-28.
UCF (plus 12 1/2) at No. 20 Houston
QB Keyone Jenkins makes his first road start for UCF in place of the injured Alonza Barnett III. The team that runs the ball better should win, and Houston does that a little better than the Knights.
Pick: Houston 26-21.
Boston College at No. 21 SMU (minus 21)
SMU gets some grace for a disastrous first quarter against Missouri State last week. Kevin Jennings, who’s completing 77% of his passes for 363 yards per game, is too much for BC as long as he takes care of the ball.
Pick: SMU 48-24.
Utah State at No. 22 Boise State (minus 20 1/2)
Both teams moved from the Mountain West to the Pac-12. The outcome will be the same as the last 10 times the teams met — a Broncos win.
Pick: Boise State 35-10.
No. 24 Kentucky (plus 3) at South Carolina (minus 3)
Notre Dame transfer QB Kenny Minchey is hitting his stride for the Wildcats, who will be facing a desperate team whose coach is under fire and its best player is suspended indefinitely for punching an opponent.
Pick: Kentucky 27-26.
Bye weeks: No. 1 Texas, No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 13 Utah, No. 15 Oregon, No. 19 Oklahoma State, No. 23 UCLA. Also: No. 11 LSU vs. McNeese State.
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