There are a handful of ranked teams facing off around the nation in Week 5 of the college football season, but the clear marquee matchup is the ABC prime-time affair and likely Big Ten Game of the Year as No. 4 Ohio State visits No. 9 Penn State. The Buckeyes are 4-point favorites.
Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
Other than Penn State’s near loss Week 1 against Appalachian State, both schools have been dominating opponents. The Nittany Lions have scored at least 45 points in each game and exactly 63 in the past two. Then again, they haven’t really played anyone. Ohio State has reached at least 40 in each outing and owns a very quality win over a ranked TCU side. The Buckeyes are 1-3 ATS in their past four against Penn State. Last year’s game was a 39-38 classic won by OSU.
The other Top 10 matchup features No. 7 Stanford and No. 9 Notre Dame in South Bend – this will have zero affect on either school’s chances of winning its conference title. Stanford of course is a Pac-12 school and Notre Dame is an independent. The loser will have it tough to reach the College Football Playoff, though, with very challenging schedules left on both sides. Notre Dame is -5.5 but is 2-7 in its past nine in this series.
In the ACC, No. 3 Clemson looks for payback against Syracuse as the Orange delivered one of the big upsets of the 2017 season, knocking off the then No. 2 Tigers 27-24 in the Carrier Dome. Clemson had won 12 consecutive games on the opponent’s home field, the longest streak in school history. The Tigers are -24 this year but 1-4 ATS in their past five games overall.
The Big 12 game of the day is No. 12 West Virginia at No. 25 Texas Tech – don’t be surprised if that’s the highest-scoring matchup of the week between prolific offenses. Last year, WVU won 46-35. The Mountaineers are 4-point favorites, with TTU 2-6 ATS in its past eight at home against teams with a winning road record.
Finally, in the SEC Florida visits No. 23 Mississippi State. Of course, the Gators’ coach is Dan Mullen, who left MSU after last season and was replaced by Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead. Mullen should be warmly welcomed back for all the success he had in Starkville. His old team is a 7.5-point favorite and is 3-0-1 ATS in the past four in the series.
