What Top 25 upsets are coming this weekend? Bold predictions for Week 5 in college football

After a loaded college football schedule in Week 4, this weekend again brings another series of highly anticipated matchups for fans across the country. Like every weekend, there is sure to be some surprises with ranked teams going down.

The hard part is sorting out when and where those upsets are going to come from. Week 5 does offer plenty of opportunities with four games matching ranked opponents and several other intriguing matchups.

The USA TODAY Sports college football staff — Scooby Axson, Jace Evans, Paul Myerberg, Erick Smith, Eddie Timanus and Dan Wolken — weigh in with their bold predictions for this weekend.

Michigan continues winning ways at Nebraska

Michigan continues its Charmin-like schedule this week when they visit Nebraska. The Wolverines have scored at least 30 points in each game, and have been going through the motions, but have hardly looked impressive in its four victories. Nebraska has won its last two games and suddenly found a running game because they know that throwing the ball with their quarterback situation is a losing proposition. Vegas expects a low score, especially with an over/under of 39, so look for Michigan to grind out another ugly win to keep its name in the playoff chase.  -- Scooby Axson

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Arkansas, Texas A&M set for tough tangle

When the noon Eastern games kick off Saturday, most attention will probably be focused on Deion Sanders’ Colorado taking on No. 6 Southern California, or an intriguing matchup between No. 23 Florida and Kentucky. But my eyes will be on the events unfolding in Jerry World. Arkansas and Texas A&M are getting together once again, renewing a rivalry that is absolutely never boring. Who wins? Great question! Recent history suggests the Aggies, as they’ve won 10 of the last 11 matchups – three of those victories coming in overtime. But they will now be navigating life without quarterback Conner Weigman and their first challenge will be a desperate Razorbacks team coming off two narrow losses. Buckle up. -- Jace Evans

Another shocking win for Kansas at Texas?

Kansas outscores Texas to take the Longhorns down a peg and throw the Big 12 race into chaos. Not that this would be that shocking: The Jayhawks are not only a Top 25 team with one of the best offenses in the country but only two years removed from a thrilling 57-56 win in Austin. It’ll take a near-perfect game to offset the gap in talent and depth, but Kansas has the quarterback, the backfield and the coaching staff to get it done. Can you imagine the fallout for Texas coach Steve Sarkisian? -- Paul Myerberg

Mississippi gets breakthrough win against LSU

Lane Kiffin's struggles against the upper echelon of the SEC is well-established. The Rebels are 1-6 against LSU and Alabama in his four seasons. That one win came in 2021 when the Tigers had their only losing record this century. One week after a disappointing loss to the Crimson Tide, Mississippi has the chance to quickly put that defeat in the rearview mirror when it hosts LSU. Look for better quarterback play from Jaxson Dart and a solid defensive showing to be enough to take down the Tigers, who haven't been great on defense against Florida State and Arkansas. -- Erick Smith

Cats have their day as Clemson bounces back against Syracuse

We own two cats. Well, scratch that – no one really owns a cat. Two cats live with us here at Chez Timanus. One of them, Pearlie, is an affectionate tuxedo who likes to make appearances at our daily department huddles. Someone suggested today I should give her a shared byline.

I briefly toyed with the idea of letting her make my ]picks this week, but she would choose teams with feline mascots over canine ones every time. This would mean the Auburn Tigers over Georgia’s Bulldogs and the Arizona Wildcats taking down the Washington Huskies – not happening. So I’ll give one nod to Team Feline from outside the rankings and say that Clemson gets off the deck and hands Syracuse its first loss.

This is a dangerous prediction. The Orange have given the Tigers troubles even in Clemson’s championship-caliber seasons, especially in the Carrier – sorry – JMA Wireless Dome. But Dabo Swinney is right to a degree that his Tigers’ season would have an entirely different narrative if not for a few ill-timed mistakes. The guess here is they’ll get some of that cleaned up this week and reverse their fortunes with a well-earned ACC victory. At least that’s what Pearlie says. Meow! -- Eddie Timanus

Another Notre Dame disappointment at Duke

The schedule could not have fallen worse for Notre Dame. After all the physical and emotional energy they expended against Ohio State, coming back one week later to play Duke on the road was always going to be a tricky proposition whether they won or lost. But considering how Notre Dame lost that game with so many self-inflicted mistakes, I just don't see the Irish being able to recreate that kind of effort one week later. Also, it's Duke. Mike Elko has a pretty good team that has a ranking in front of its name, but it's going to be a real challenge for Marcus Freeman to get his players to understand that this isn't the Duke of old. And it's also going to be a relatively crazy environment in Durham, given how well that team has played so far and the opponent. Duke is going to keep this thing rolling and knock the Irish out of the playoff conversation for this year.  -- Dan Wolken