Week 5 College Football Viewing Guide & Open Thread

The viewing guide is coming at you a little early this week because we get a pretty appealing Pac-12 ranked on ranked matchup to start us off on Friday night. The Saturday slate isn’t nearly as fun as last weekend but there are still some quality games to watch.

SUGGESTED VIEWING GUIDE (all times PT)

FRIDAY, 9/29

6:00 PM: #10 Utah (4-0) at #19 Oregon State (3-1), FS1

DraftKings Betting Line: Oregon State -4

Is this when we finally get to see Utah QB Cam Rising? He dressed for last week’s Utes win over UCLA but Nate Johnson still played the whole game and only put up 14 points despite a dominant defensive effort. Oregon State’s defense looked good to start off the season but they were roasted by Cam Ward in Pullman last week. It’s probably good for Washington’s hopes at a Pac-12 championship if the Beavers are able to live up to their favorite status in this game and put a loss on the Utes now before they get everyone back fully healthy. Really fun start to the college football weekend.

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SATURDAY, 9/30

9:00 AM: #22 Florida (3-1) at Kentucky (4-0)

DraftKings Betting Line: Kentucky -1.5

Everyone will be tuned into USC and Colorado but after last week I don’t really feel the need to watch Deion and the Buffs get blown out again. If USC plays as uninspired as they did last week against Arizona State then switch over.

Florida has rebounded from their tough opening week loss to Utah with 3 straight wins including a big one over Tennessee. Kentucky has to be one of the least talked about undefeated teams in the country. That’s extremely reasonable though because their wins are over Ball State, Eastern Kentucky, Akron, and Vanderbilt. They have this game and then the next 3 weeks are against Georgia, Missouri, and Tennessee. So we’ll find out quickly just how good the Wildcats really are.

12:30 PM: #24 Kansas (4-0) at #3 Texas (4-0)

DraftKings Betting Line: Texas -16

Texas may be looking ahead to the Red River game against Oklahoma next week which could be good news to Kansas. The Longhorns losing to the Jayhawks is a bit of a meme right now but this KU team under Lance Leipold is both fun and good. QB Jalon Daniels is so much fun to watch and is a true dual-threat. A surprise upset here by Kansas is unlikely but within reach and would be a big boost to any hopeful Pac-12 CFP entrant.

3:00 PM: #13 LSU (3-1) at #20 Ole Miss (3-1)

DraftKings Betting Line: LSU -2.5

Ole Miss failed to knock off Alabama last week but get another shot at one of the top teams in the SEC West this week. Lane Kiffen’s offense run by QB Jaxson Dart (former USC Trojan) looked unstoppable before getting very much stopped by Bama. LSU completely demolished Mississippi State but followed that up with a very narrow win over Arkansas. WR Malik Nabers for LSU is in competition with Rome Odunze for the Biletnikoff and will be another early draft pick.

4:30 PM: #11 Notre Dame (4-1) at #19 Duke (4-0)

DraftKings Betting Line: Notre Dame -5.5

Congratulations to Duke for getting their first GameDay hosting experience. Head coach Mike Elko is one of the hottest coaching candidates out there right now and will be brought up for almost any job this cycle. Notre Dame meanwhile was one yard away from holding on against Ohio State last week and keeping CFP dreams alive. That seems tenuous now with this game plus USC and Clemson still on the schedule. But 11-1 with wins over those teams and only one loss to Ohio State which came on the last play might give them a shot.

7:00 PM: #7 Washington (4-0) at Arizona (3-1), Pac-12 Networks

DraftKings Betting Line: Washington -20

Duh.

The good news is it’s a very empty night slate so you’re not missing much when you flip over to the Husky game. The only other west coast game is a 7:30 kick with 0-4 Nevada against 4-0 Fresno State. Go Dawgs.

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.