Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below the main deck of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken have let me know they are pumped, primed, and pushing forward in their diligent research regarding all things connected to this preview of college football’s week five …
I’d hate to see their definition of relaxing.
Anyway, here’s the AP Top 25 heading into this weekend:
| 1. | Texas | (4-0) |
| 2. | Georgia | (4-0) |
| 3. | Notre Dame | (4-0) |
| 4. | Miami (FL) | (4-0) |
| 5. | Ohio State | (3-1) |
| 6. | Indiana | (4-0) |
| 7. | Alabama | (4-0) |
| 8. | Florida | (4-0) |
| 9. | Ole Miss | (3-1) |
| 10. | BYU | (3-0) |
| 11. | LSU | (3-1) |
| 12. | Texas Tech | (4-0) |
| 13. | Utah | (4-0) |
| 14. | Iowa | (4-0) |
| 15. | Oregon | (3-1) |
| 16. | Mississippi State | (4-0) |
| 17. | Tennessee | (3-1) |
| 18. | USC | (4-1) |
| 19. | Oklahoma State | (3-1) |
| 20. | Houston | (3-1) |
| 21. | SMU | (3-1) |
| 22. | Boise State | (3-1) |
| 23. | UCLA | (4-0) |
| 24. | Kentucky | (3-1) |
| 25. | Missouri | (3-1) |
New to the Top 25 are Oklahoma State, Boise State, UCLA, and Kentucky. They replace Penn State, Louisville, Michigan, and Texas A&M, each of which lost games they really weren’t supposed to last week. Michigan can be excused for dropping a 20-19 decision to a decent Iowa squad, but Penn State falling to an unranked Wisconsin 24-20 — at home, no less — is a puzzler. Well, aside from the obvious explanation that the Nittany Lions aren't that good. Texas A&M was drubbed by LSU 35-6 in a nice bounce-back for the Tigers after the preceding week’s emotion-laden loss to Ole Miss, and Louisville dropped a 30-27 bout to Wake Forest at home when those darn Demon Deacons blocked the Cardinals’ last-minute field goal attempt. Among already-ranked teams, Florida was the big mover upward after running roughshod over Ole Miss 52-24.
On to this Saturday’s (October 3, 2026) action. There are some contests between ranked teams to examine, starting with #7 Alabama visiting the creatively named city Mississippi State, Mississippi (like where else would a city named Mississippi State be?) to take on — you guessed it — Mississippi State. Or is it Starkville? Or Fanville? Whatever. Anyway, regardless of which city the two teams have played in, the song has remained the same for quite some time as the Crimson Tide has rolled over the Bulldogs to the tune of 16 straight victories. Mississippi State will seek to reverse this trend behind the talents of sophomore quarterback Kamario Taylor, who thus far has thrown an impressive 14 touchdowns against only two interceptions. Mississippi State is legit; they defeated Missouri last weekend 31-24. Still, Alabama is, well, Alabama, so this one should be interesting.
Elsewhere, #8 Florida will seek to avoid a letdown following its beatdown of Ole Miss as it travels to #25 Missouri. The Gators were impressive in both keeping Rebels quarterback Trinidad Chambliss more or less in check while shredding the Ole Miss defense, so unless the aforementioned letdown takes place, Missouri has its hands full, and then some. #5 Ohio State hits the heartland as it pauses a social call on #14 Iowa. Kinnick Stadium holds an inherent huge home-field advantage for the Hawkeyes; it’s loud, raucous, and the Iowa faithful are right on top of the action. Still, Ohio State is the better team, so unless Iowa can get an early jump and maintain the frenzy, this figures to be a Buckeyes win. But that is why they play the games, is it not?
Finally, my 2-2 California Golden Bears will attempt to rebound from a most disappointing 24-10 loss to Clemson last week, in which the offense forgot to show up, as they travel to Las Vegas to take on the 2-2 UNLV Rebels. UNLV plays in the Mountain West Conference, currently led by the 4-0 North Dakota State. ‘Nuff said.