College football Week 5: Top 25 schedule and predictions – Will Notre Dame rebound?

After Michigan, Notre Dame, UCF and Utah all went down a week ago, all four teams look to respond with a gut-check win to revive their college football playoff hopes in Week 5.

Week 4 featured some surprising upsets and high-scoring affairs with some of college football’s Top 25 teams, changing the college football playoff picture heading into the midway point of the season.

This week, Justin Fields has his first real Big Ten road test, Notre Dame looks to hold off a talented Virginia roster and Bo Nix will try to hold off the pesky Texas A&M Aggies at home. The No. 1 Clemson Tigers should retain the throne for the top team, entering a game against Mack Brown’s Tarheels as 27-point favorites.

Week 5 schedule and Top 25 predictions (winner in bold)

Friday, Sept. 27

• No. 12 Penn State at Maryland 8 p.m., FS1
• Arizona State at No. 15 California 10:30 p.m., ESPN

Saturday, Sept. 28

• Texas Tech at No. 6 Oklahoma 12 p.m., FOX
• Northwestern at No. 8 Wisconsin 12 p.m., ABC
• Middle Tennessee at No. 14 Iowa 12 p.m., ESPN2
• Rutgers at No. 20 Michigan 12 p.m., BTN
• No. 23 Texas A&M at Arkansas 12 p.m., ESPN
• No. 1 Clemson at North Carolina 3:30 p.m., ABC
• Ole Miss at No. 2 Alabama 3:30 p.m., CBS
• No. 18 Virginia at No. 10 Notre Dame 3:30 p.m., NBC
• No. 21 USC at No. 17 Washington 3:30 p.m., FOX
• Indiana at No. 25 Michigan State 3:30 p.m., BTN
• Towson at No. 9 Florida 4 p.m., SECN
• Mississippi State at No. 7 Auburn 7 p.m., ESPN
• UConn at No. 22 UCF 7 p.m., ESPN2
• No. 24 Kansas State at Oklahoma State 7 p.m., ESPN+
• No. 5 Ohio State at Nebraska 7:30 p.m., ABC
• Washington State at No. 19 Utah 10 p.m., FS1

The most interesting game from the Saturday slate is easily the Notre Dame game against Virginia as the Fighting Irish will look to avenge a disappointing loss against SEC powerhouse Georgia Bulldogs. Virginia is no slouch in the ACC and Ian Book’s offense may struggle against the country’s No. 14 defense.

When it comes to upset potential, the first game that jumps off the page is Maryland against Penn State. This is the first sellout for the Terps since 2015 and College Park should be rocking on Friday night. Maryland may not win, but the team is looking for some revenge after last year’s massacre.

Other teams with a shot to pull off an upset include the Oklahoma State Cowboys who welcome new Top 25 team in Kansas State. Quarterback Spencer Sanders is coming off a really rough outing against Texas but expect the young freshman to respond at home.

One of the more shocking developments this season is with Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines, who have yet to play a solid consistent 60 minutes this season. In a matchup against Rutgers, the Wolverines aim to find some optimism with a game against an Urban Meyer-less Ohio State Buckeyes team looming in November.

Overall record this season: 72-14