No. 5 Ohio State plays in one of the biggest games of the week on Saturday when it takes on No. 14 Iowa at 3:30 p.m. on CBS, but there are plenty of other marquee matchups in Week 5.
To start the day, a pair of undefeated teams in No. 16 Mississippi State and No. 7 Alabama will match up in Starkville, before No. 8 Florida travels to No. 25 Missouri in hopes of its fifth straight win.
Finally, Clemson will look to upset No. 4 Miami in a pivotal ACC matchup.
Here are the top games this week.
No. 7 Alabama vs. No. 16 Mississippi State (Noon, ABC): The game between the Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide may be even better than the teams’ respective rankings suggest. Mississippi State and Alabama have each played as well as nearly any team in the country to start the season. The Bulldogs already have three wins over Power Four teams to start the season, including its most recent 31-24 win over Missouri.
The Bulldogs have been led by one of the best quarterbacks in the country this year. Sophomore Kamario Taylor has firmly established himself as a Heisman Trophy candidate, throwing for 14 touchdowns, tied for the most in the FBS, 1,192 yards, and only two interceptions while completing 69.2 percent of his passes.
Taylor has helped the Bulldogs be the No. 14 scoring offense in the country, averaging 43.0 points per game.
The Bulldogs will face their toughest test of the season when they host Alabama. Not only has the Crimson Tide won every game so far this season, but they have done so in a fairly comfortable fashion, winning each by at least 14 points.
Alabama ranks No. 4 nationally in scoring offense, averaging 48.0 points per game. Sophomore quarterback Keelon Russell has been fantastic to start the year. Russell has thrown for 1,129 yards, eight touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 70.9 percent of his passes.
No. 8 Florida vs. No. 25 Missouri (3:30 p.m., ABC): Coming off one of its best performances in the last 15 years, Florida has all sorts of momentum on its side heading into its game against the Tigers. In a 52-28 win over Ole Miss last week, Florida showed it’s taken massive strides on both sides of the ball under first-year head coach Jon Sumrall.
The Gators gained 498 yards of total offense in that game, with 302 of those yards coming on the ground. Junior running back Jadan Baugh is the focal point of the offense. He’s recorded 600 rushing yards and an FBS-leading 11 rushing touchdowns to start the season.
Florida ranks No. 2 nationally, scoring 53.5 points per game.
The Gators will have to avoid being trapped by a solid Missouri team to maintain their perfect record. The only blemish on Missouri’s schedule is the aforementioned loss to Mississippi State.
Missouri had its moments in that loss to Mississippi State. The Tigers led by a touchdown in the fourth quarter, and former Ole Miss transfer Austin Simmons had a solid performance. Simmons completed 23-of-39 passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns.
To keep up with Florida’s elite offense, Simmons will have to be on point for Missouri.
No. 4 Miami (Fla.) vs. Clemson (7:30 p.m., ABC): Clemson’s 2026 season couldn’t have started much worse. The Tigers were absolutely destroyed by LSU 51-7 in the season opener. However, Clemson has righted the ship to some extent in recent weeks. The Tigers won their first two ACC games over North Carolina and California. As poorly as his team played in week one, head coach Dabo Swinney’s team cannot be ruled out of contention for the ACC championship.
In recent weeks, Clemson has found some success running the football. Sophomore running back Gideon Davidson has 349 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 59 carries to start the season.
Following the loss to LSU, Clemson has only allowed 12.33 points per game over its last three games.
The Hurricanes will certainly test the improvements made by the Tigers. Miami (Fla.) ranks in the top five nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The best team the Hurricanes have played so far this season is Wake Forest. The Hurricanes were able to defeat the Demon Deacons 33-20 in their third game of the season.
Miami is led by junior quarterback Darian Mensah and sophomore receiver Malachi Toney, each of whom is viewed as a candidate to win the Heisman Trophy.
Other games to watch:
Michigan vs. Minnesota (Noon, Fox)
No. 3 Notre Dame at North Carolina (Noon, ESPN)
Auburn at No. 17 Tennessee (3:30 p.m., ESPN)
No. 24 Kentucky at South Carolina (4:15 p.m., SEC Network)
No. 10 BYU vs. TCU (7:00 p.m., ESPN)
Washington vs. No. 18 USC (7:30 p.m., NBC)
No. 6 Indiana vs. Rutgers (8:00 p.m., BTN)
