NCAA Football Week 5 Odds, Overview and Predictions

The teams at the very top of the college football power rankings held serve this past week, as Alabama beat Texas A&M by 22 points (but failed to cover). Ohio State drubbed Tulane, 49-6, in a tuneup for Penn State next week. Georgia went to Missouri and delivered a tough 43-29 win, overcoming some defensive difficulties by forcing three turnovers. Clemson took down Georgia Tech behind freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who went 13 for 18 for 176 yards and four scores. After that, things got interesting, as Stanford needed overtime to beat Oregon and LSU was neck and neck with Louisiana Tech until the last eight minutes of the game, when the Tigers poured on a couple touchdowns. Oklahoma needed overtime to beat Army at home, and TCU took a bad loss at Texas, the first time the Longhorns had even held a lead at any point in a game over the Horned Frogs in five years. What can we expect this week? Take a look at our NCAA Football Week 5 odds predictions. As always, home teams are in all caps.

NCAA Football Week 5 Odds, Overview and Predictions

College Football Rankings 2018: Week 5 AP Top 25 poll released https://t.co/Vu8Y9N1RON

— College Football (@CFB) September 23, 2018

Saturday, September 29

TEXAS TECH (+4) over West Virginia (12:00pm ET, ESPN2)

The Red Raiders took a bad loss in Houston against Ole Miss to open the regular season, but since then they have been running roughshod over the opposition. They routed FBS foe Lamar, 77-0, and then ran Houston out of the stadium, 63-49. Last week, they headed to Oklahoma State in what seemed likely to be a matchup of high-scoring offenses, but the Red Raiders headed home with a 41-17 victory that gives them a huge Big 12 win. Now they prepare to take on West Virginia in a meeting that would give both teams a huge leg up in the conference standings. West Virginia ia 3-0 after delivering a rousing win against Tennessee in their opener and then routing Youngstown State and Kansas State at home. Will Grier has established a reputation for being one of the top quarterbacks in the country, and he will test the Red Raider defense. However, Lubbock is a dangerous place for visiting teams to play, and the defensive prowess that Texas Tech showed against the Oklahoma State scheme suggests that this will be a firefight — just the sort of game that West Virginia tends to lose on the road. NCAA Football Week 5 Prediction: Texas Tech 48, West Virginia 45

Temple (+14) over BOSTON COLLEGE (12:00pm ET, ESPNU)

Which Temple Owls will we see on Saturday? In their first two games, they lost to Villanova and FBS foe Buffalo, but then they went to Maryland and routed the Terrapins by 35, and this past week they beat visiting Tulsa by 14 points. They head to Boston College in a nonconference road matchup against an Eagles team that took an ugly 17-point road loss against Purdue last week, after routing UMass and Holy Cross and eking out a road win at Wake Forest in their ACC opener. The size of the line is the biggest question mark here for me, given the scale of the opponents that Temple has beaten the past two weeks. Purdue showed how to shut down the BC offense, and Temple will have seen that film. Temple seems to have righted the ship, and while BC might pull out the home win, it won’t be by two touchdowns. NCAA Football Week 5 Prediction: Boston College 27, Temple 20

Florida State (-6) over LOUISVILLE (3:30pm ET, ESPN2)

Life is grim so far for the Louisville Cardinals now that Lamar Jackson is in the National Football League. They took a 51-14 shellacking from Alabama in their opener and then won against FCS foe Indiana State and mid-major Western Kentucky (although the latter game just by three points) before heading to Virginia in their ACC opener and ending up on the short end of a 27-3 score — and the Cavaliers are not expected to contend. Now they return home to face a Florida State team that is also going through a rebuild under new coach Willie Taggart. Florida State is also 2-2, with wins over FCS foe Samford and Northern Illinois, and ACC losses at Virginia Tech (by 21) and Syracuse (by 23). The Seminoles have better talent on both sides of the ball than the Cardinals do, and their win over Northern Illinois showed some starch in all three phases. I see the Seminoles showing some signs of growth against Louisville. NCAA Football Week 5 Prediction: Florida State 30, Louisville 20