Week five of the college football season is almost here, and this is going to be a good one! After this week, some teams will be almost halfway through their regular season schedule, which is hard to believe as it feels like the season just started yesterday. Week five is going to be a fun one as there are a ton of good matchups, and perhaps the best matchup of the college football season as Alabama will take on Georgia. One other contest that should be a good one will be the Notre Dame football team hosting Louisville for a top-20 matchup.
ESPN's College GameDay airs live from the campus hosting the biggest college football game of the week, and they will be in Tuscaloosa this Saturday to see Alabama take on Georgia. These are two of the best teams in the SEC, and they are two of the best teams in the entire country. This is a must-watch game.
Alabama-Georgia is going to be a good one and so will Notre Dame-Louisville, but there are a lot of other good matchups this week as we are getting into the heart of conference play.
The ACC has this one big matchup this weekend as #15 Louisville will hit the road to take on #16 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish aren't an ACC team, but it feels like they are at this point. There are a lot of conference games happening, but none other worth noting.
There are a few other intriguing matchups in the Big Ten this weekend to go along with the Penn State-Illinois game. #12 Michigan will be hosting Minnesota in a rivalry battle for the Little Brown Jug. #13 USC will be looking to bounce back from their loss against the Wolverines last week as they will be taking on Wisconsin at home. Lastly, Penn State will be hosting Illinois for a top-20 matchup under the lights. That's going to be a good one.
In the Big 12, #20 Oklahoma State and #23 Kansas State have a huge matchup as both teams try to avoid a second straight loss. Both the Cowboys and Wildcats are seen as contenders in the conference, but whoever loses this weekend is going to be in trouble.
There are a lot of other conference games in the SEC this week, but there aren't really any worth noting besides the huge matchup between Alabama and Georgia. Week five is almost here, and it's going to be a fun one.
The Notre Dame football team looked like a lock to make the College Football Playoff after their week one win against Texas A&M, but a loss against Northern Illinois flipped their season upside down. The Fighting Irish need a win this weekend. This one is going to be fun.
Before we get into predictions for this matchup, let's take a look at where each team is at heading into this matchup.
Notre Dame probably has to win out
Because of the fact that the Notre Dame football team isn't in a conference, they probably need to win out to make the College Football Playoff. The CFP committee values conference championships, and Notre Dame can't win a conference that they aren't part of. Because of that, another loss mixed with an awful loss at home against Northern Illinois might be enough to keep the Fighting Irish out.
Outside of that disastrous loss, Notre Dame has looked impressive. They have a few random bad losses at home in the Marcus Freeman era, and that's definitely concerning. However, the Fighting Irish have been pretty good outside of those weird defeats. They need to come ready to go this weekend against Louisville as they need a win.
Louisville is 3-0
The Louisville football team is off to a good start this season as they are 3-0. The Cardinals have wins against Austin Peay, Jacksonville State and Georgia Tech. Those first two wins were expected and easy, but the Yellowjackets looked good to start the season and Louisville did a good job handling business against them.
Last season, Louisville made it all the way to the ACC title game, but they went down against Florida State. If they can have a similar season, they will have a chance at making the College Football Playoff. A win on Saturday would go a long way toward achieving that goal.
This is a huge game, and here are three predictions for it:
Riley Leonard will throw two touchdown passes
This is going to be a Riley Leonard breakout game. He hasn't been great since joining the Notre Dame football team. So far this season, Leonard has two interceptions and just one touchdown pass. That isn't going to cut it if the Fighting Irish are going to be a College Football Playoff team. Riley needs to start playing better, and it needs to happen this weekend against Louisville. He'll find a way to make some plays.
Riley Leonard will throw for 250 yards
Riley Leonard needs to have a big game in this one, and he will. He has made some big plays with his legs this season, but he will make some more with his arm this week. Louisville is a good team and the Fighting Irish will need their QB to have a good game. He will rise to the occasion and get it done.
Notre Dame will win 31-20
We're going with a final score prediction here. Louisville will be able to keep this one close for awhile, but the road atmosphere will be too tough, and the Notre Dame football team will pull away for a comfortable win behind a strong performance from Riley Leonard.
Notre Dame and Louisville will kick off from Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana at 3:30 ET/2:30 CT on Saturday. The game will be streaming on Peacock, and the Fighting Irish are currently favored by 6.5 points.
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