Week Five NATIONAL College Football Previews:

#4 Miami-Clemson, #5 Ohio State-#14 Iowa,
#7 Bama-#16 Mississippi State Among Top Tilts
(DG’s Weekly CFB YouTube Show = Below)

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Sept. 30, 2026)

The 2026 college football campaign continues Thursday through Saturday with a compelling Week Five schedule, highlighted by #4 Miami’s visit to Clemson and two matchups pairing Top 25 opponents.

The three most prominent games nationally — each previewed below — include the #4 Hurricanes (4-0) taking on the Tigers (3-1) at Death Valley in a prime-time Saturday night national television window (7:30 p.m., ABC), a Southeastern Conference showdown between #7 Alabama (4-0) and #16 Mississippi State (4-0) on Saturday afternoon (noon, ABC), and a high-profile Big Ten clash pairing #5 Ohio State (3-1) and #14 Iowa (4-0) in between (3:30 p.m., CBS).

Meanwhile, although three of North Carolina’s seven Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams are off this week, UNC welcomes #3 Notre Dame to Chapel Hill, NC State and Wake Forest host dangerous ACC opponents, and Campbell, Elon, Mars Hill and Western Carolina are among those that have very meaningful matchups, too.

Here are more details on our “Three To See” selections from this week’s national schedule:

National “Three To See,” Game One

#7 Alabama (4-0) at #16 Mississippi State (4-0), Sat., noon (ABC)

There is only one matchup this week between Top 25 teams that are both undefeated, and this is it.

Although Alabama has absolutely dominated Mississippi State in football for more than a century at this point, including a current 16-game winning streak over the Bulldogs that is not even the longest for the Crimson Tide in the rivalry’s history (that would be 22 straight!), there are at least a few reasons to wonder whether this time might be different.

First, the 4-0 Bulldogs already have three wins over Power Four opponents — a Top 25 Missouri team at home, plus Minnesota and South Carolina on the road. Second, the Bulldogs are at home, where a large majority of major upsets occur.

Finally, Mississippi State seems to have discovered a truly special player in quarterback Kamario Taylor, and truly special players are often part of the recipe for making something special happen.

Alabama is one of only four teams — along with Georgia, Miami and Ohio State — that enter Week Five with top-10 efficiency numbers on both offense and defense, and the Tide are pretty good on special teams, too. Those facts, in addition to the history involved, are a big part of why they’re the road favorites over an undefeated, nationally ranked opponent.

Sophomore quarterback Keylon Russell appears to be settling in nicely in his first year as the Tide’s starter. He’s third in the SEC with 282 passing yards per game, and he has eight touchdown throws against only two interceptions. A running threat, too, he’s also third in the league in total offense, at 324 yards per game.

Ryan Coleman-Williams is one of the SEC’s top wideouts, and the Tide also has plenty of big-time talent on defense, with Yhonzae Pierre and Caleb Woodson at linebacker, plus Bray Hubbard, Zabien Brown and Keon Sabb in the secondary.

The fun factor in this game revolves around Mississippi State’s new starting quarterback, Taylor, a 19-year-old true sophomore who was used mostly as a situational running QB in a backup role last season.

Now Taylor suddenly leads the SEC in total offense (344 yards per game), the Bulldogs lead the league with 533 yards per game, and Taylor is being discussed as an NFL prospect because of his massive improvement as a passer. He is completing almost 70 percent of his attempts, his 14 touchdown tosses are tied for the national lead, and he’s been picked off only twice.

The bottom line here is that Alabama and Mississippi State are both averaging more than 40 points per game offensively. With the Bulldogs’ pass defense very leaky so far this season, the Tide offense is expected to put up some big plays and some big numbers in Starkville. The lingering question is whether Taylor can help the Bulldogs (a six-point underdog) do the same.

National “Three To See,” Game Two

#5 Ohio State (3-1) at #14 Iowa (4-0), Sat., 3:30 p.m. (CBS)

This Big Ten matchup involves two head coaches who have done truly extraordinary things.

This is Ryan Day’s eighth full season with the Buckeyes, and if he can beat Iowa on the road this week and Maryland at home (a much simpler task) next week, his career record through 100 games as a head coach — all at Ohio State — would be 87-13, and his conference record there would be an incredible 58-5.

Among all FBS head coaches who led their teams in 100 or more games in the history of the sport, Day’s 87 percent winning rate would rank behind only legendary Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne, who finished at 88 percent way back in 1930.

Day led Ohio State to a top-10 final ranking in each of his previous seven years in Columbus, including the national championship in 2024, and now he has the Buckeyes firmly in the mix for their sixth College Football Playoff appearance in the past eight years, although this game at 4-0 Iowa probably won’t be easy.

At Iowa, there have been only two head coaches over the past 48 years. Hayden Fry led the Hawkeyes from 1979-98, and then his former offensive line coach, Kirk Ferentz, took over in 1999 and has been on the sidelines in Iowa City ever since.

At 28 seasons and counting, the 71-year-old Ferentz is by far the longest-tenured active coach in major college football, and he’s accomplished some amazing things along the way.

Ferentz led the Hawkeyes to Big Ten titles in 2002 and 2004, he’s taken them to five top-10 finishes in the national polls, and just last year he passed Ohio State legend Woody Hayes as the winningest coach in Big Ten football history.

Amazingly, Ferentz hasn’t had a losing season since 2012, six of his last eight teams finished in the Top 25, and this year’s Hawkeyes are off to that impressive 4-0 start, which included narrow wins over long-time rival Iowa State and, just last week, at #18 Michigan.

Ohio State has far more NFL-caliber talent in this matchup, starting with all-world wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and continuing with the likes of quarterback Julian Sayin, running back Bo Jackson and multiple linemen on both sides of the ball.

Iowa’s top professional prospects this season include offensive linemen Trevor Lauck and Kade Pieper, plus tight end DJ Vonnahme, although the Hawkeyes so far have dominated even more with their defense, where their eight points per game yield ranks #1 nationally.

Ferentz is only 2-10 all-time against Ohio State, and it’s not clear that his offense will be able to consistently move the chains against a nasty OSU defense this year, but his two head-to-head victories over the Buckeyes both came in Iowa City, where this game is being played on Saturday afternoon.

Just for fun, it’s also worth noting that, in a sport where victories over top-five opponents are extremely hard to come by, Ferentz has five of them — all at home — including over a #3-ranked Ohio State team in 2004 and a #2-ranked Buckeyes squad in 2017. The Hawkeyes are a 14-point underdog this time.