College Football Week 5 Picks And Top 25 Matchups

College Football Week 5 kickoff to start October, and there will be further movement in the AP Top 25 after this week. There are currently 26 undefeated FBS teams, and eight of them play in the four key Top 25 match-ups on Saturday, Oct. 2.

I break down the key Top 25 match-ups with added information you can bet on in my weekly college football picks and profiles at Forbes. This week I provide picks and brief analysis and insight from additional public handicappers and media.

You can see my Week 5 picks, opinions and leans in my analysis of the Top 25 match-ups at Offshore Gaming Association. I’ll chip-in a bit here as well.

Please recognize the betting lines move and adjust, and I provide this information for news and entertainment purposes with added info and betting data from leading online sportsbooks as a media contact.

My history as a proven sports handicapper has been documented in the past as a top of the leaderboard sports betting analyst.

College Football Week 5 Top 25 Match-ups, Odds and Picks

Rank	Team	BetMGM Line	Week 5 Opponent
1	Alabama (58)	-14.5	vs No. 12 Ole Miss
2	Georgia (4)	-18	vs No. 8 Arkansas
3	Oregon	-8	at Stanford
4	Penn State	-12.5	Indiana
5	Iowa	-3	at Maryland
6	Oklahoma	-11.5	at Kansas State
7	Cincinnati	-2	at No. 9 Notre Dame
8	Arkansas	18	at No. 2 Georgia
9	Notre Dame	2	vs No. 7 Cincinnati
10	Florida	-8	at Kentucky
11	Ohio State	-15	at Rutgers
12	Mississippi	14.5	at No. 1 Alabama
13	BYU	-9.5	at Utah State
14	Michigan	1.5	at Wisconsin
15	Texas A&M	-7	Mississippi State
16	Coastal Caronlina	-34	UL Monroe
17	Michigan State	-11	Western Kentucky
18	Fresno State	-11	at Hawaii
19	Oklahoma State	-4	vs No. 21 Baylor
20	UCLA	-3	Arizona State
21	Baylor	4	at No. 19 Oklahoma State
22	Auburn	3	at LSU
23	NC State	-19	Louisiana Tech
24	Wake Forest	-7	Louisville
25	Clemson	-15	Boston College

No. 12 Mississippi at No. 1 Alabama – 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS
No. 8 Arkansas at No. 2 Georgia – 12:00 p.m. ET on ESPN
No. 7 Cincinnati at No. 9 Notre Dame – 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC
No. 21 Baylor at No. 19 Oklahoma State – 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2

Let’s see if we can have another winning week like the 3-0 sweep on Top 25 games in Week 3.

More odds and key match-ups and coverage at TheLines, where I chip-in additional sports betting news and coverage.

Baylor at Oklahoma State
Line: Oklahoma State -3.5 and Total 47.5

The Bears were out-gained 479-285 last week but escaped 31-29 at home versus Iowa State, who has fallen out of the Top 25 after starting the season No.5. But a look at Baylor’s soft early schedule shows wins over Texas State, Texas Southern and Kansas. Now the Bears hit the road for their toughest challenge against a 4-0 Oklahoma State team that has beaten Tulsa, Boise State and Kansas State last week to open Big 12 play while outgaining the Wildcats 481-260 in a 31-20 win. The Cowboys are 3-0 at home and have benefitted from some opponents injuries and turnovers. But the SOS edge combined with projected rushing and total yards advantage puts us on the Cowboys. Oklahoma State buried Baylor 42-3 in Waco to close last season and piled up more than 600 yards offense. Head coach Mike Gundy has perhaps been holding back a bit and not showing all his cards for the offense thus far, but not this week. The Cowboys are also 9-1 SU and 8-2 ATS as home favorites under head coach Mike Gundy when tackling the Bears in Stillwater.

Pick: Oklahoma State -3.5

Cincinnati at Notre Dame
Line: Cincinnati -1.5 and Total 50.5

These teams are a combined 5-2 over/under this season and both teams games have averaged 58 points per game. Yet the total has dipped a full point. The Bearcats enter off a bye having beaten a pair of weak opponents to start the season and then a road win at Indiana in which Cincinnati was out-gained by nearly 50 yards and benefitted from four Hoosier turnovers. The Bearcats are 3-8 over/under in their last 11 games vs winning opponents and 2-6 over/under vs most recent non-conference opponents. Notre Dame is 1-5 over/under in their last six as a home underdog. The Bearcats defense is still legit, and started the season projected as one of the better defenses in the country. Notre Dame’s game was going under last week until a pair of pick 6 TD returns by the Irish ignited 31 unanswered points. Cincinnati steps up and looks to prove they belong in the College Football Playoff discussion as a Group of Five power. The Bearcats are only 3-8 on the road under head coach Luke Fickell against winning teams. But Bearcats senior QB Desmond Ridder is mobile and can make plays down the field in the passing game behind a solid offensive line. Notre Dame QB Jack Coan is still questionable to play following an ankle injury in last week’s win, but he’s been taking first team reps this week with backup Drew Pyne. If you like the Irish, you may want to be sure Coan plays. You may also get a slightly better number on Cincinnati. Still, despite Notre Dame sporting 19 straight regular season wins and 26 straight home wins, we’ll call for those streaks to end.

Opinion: Cincinnati moneyline

FairwayJay is a proven sports handicapper and is recognized as one of the sports industry’s most insightful analysts. Reach him as interested with comments, suggestions or chip-ins along with inquiries for contract work and media inquiries at [email protected]