College Football Week 5 Preview: Georgia-Alabama tops heavyweight list

Not much has changed through the first four weeks of the 2024 college football season. Of the top 12 teams in the preseason AP poll, nine remain undefeated, two have lost once – Michigan lost to Texas, the current No. 1 team, and Notre Dame fell to Northern Illinois in the season's only truly earth-shattering upset – and only one, preseason No. 10 Florida State, now 1-3, has truly disappointed. We had great entertainment, but the overall picture hasn't changed much.

However, Week 5 is where the rubber hits the road. We have four ranked versus ranked games coming up and there's a lot to keep us updated, but the conversation starts with the biggest game of the season so far. For the seventh time in eight seasons – but only the second time in a home stadium – Georgia and Alabama will meet. Over the past 10 years, these teams have combined to win nine SEC titles and five national titles; Five of their six meetings since 2017 have come in the SEC or CFP championship games. They are the defining programs of this era of college football.

There are plenty of big matchups coming up – Ohio State vs. Oregon in Week 7, Georgia vs. Texas and Alabama vs. Tennessee in Week 8, just for starters – but when it comes to helmet games, it's almost impossible to top this one. It's a damn good tone setter as we head into October.

Here's everything you need to consider during a busy week 5. (All times are Eastern Time and all lines are from ESPN BET.)

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Group of 5 showdowns
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Game of Season I

No. 2 Georgia and No. 4 Alabama (7:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN+)

Remember the Georgia-Texas Sugar Bowl, where Bevo almost stomped on Uga and Sam Ehlinger declared, “We're baaaaack”? That was the last time Kirby Smart lost to a current head coach. Tom Herman, Texas' coach in that game, is now at Florida Atlantic. It's been almost six years.

Since the start of the 2021 season, Smart's Bulldogs have an impressive 45-2 record, with both losses coming against Alabama and now-retired Nick Saban. They're 3-0 this year, but they're facing one of the toughest stretches you'll ever see: playing the next seven games four Of the top six teams in the AP, three are on the road. And thanks to a near miss against Kentucky (and the corresponding drop in their SP+ rating) two weeks ago, SP+ currently gives them a much better chance of going 8-4 or worse (15.4%) than going 12-0 (3.6%). ).

In other words, they might need this one. And most of the time they get what they need.