Weekend Watch Guide: An Oklahoma State Fan’s Guide to Week 5 of the 2026 College Football Season

As far as bye weeks go, the schedule could’ve been a bit better.

Although this might not be the best of slates from the offset, that’s usually when we get some crazy results. Here’s an Oklahoma State fan’s watch guide for Week 5.

Big 12 Schedule

Middle Tennessee (2-2) at Kansas (1-2) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPNU
UCF (3-1) at No. 20 Houston (3-1) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ESPN2
West Virginia (3-1) at Iowa State (2-2) — 11 a.m. Saturday on TNT
No. 10 BYU (3-0) at TCU (2-2) — 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN
No. 12 Texas Tech (4-0) at Colorado (2-2) — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on FOX
Baylor (3-1) at Arizona State (2-1) — 9:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN
Cincinnati (4-0) at Arizona (3-1) — 10 p.m. Saturday on FOX

UCF-Houston: OSU’s next two opponents play each other this week, as the Knights head to Houston before their trip to Stillwater.

The Cougars boast the Big 12’s highest-scoring offense to this point, averaging 44.5 points a game. UCF will again be without starting quarterback Alonza Barnett III, but that didn’t stop the Knights from beating TCU last week.

West Virginia-Iowa State: The Mountaineers will have to try to rebound from their loss to the Cowboys in a trip to Ames to play an Iowa State team that has had more fight to it than I expected going into the year.

The Cyclones rank in the top five in the Big 12 in total defense, giving up just 272.5 yards a game. We’ll see how that holds up against West Virginia’s all-out rush attack.

Baylor-Arizona State: This game is more interesting now than it was at the beginning of the year. It feels like a Arizona State loss would be catastrophic and a Baylor win would be massive, but the Sun Devils are just 4.5-point favorites.

The Bears’ only loss was by a point to Auburn on a neutral field, but it’s still hard to know what to expect from the group. Arizona State’s loss is to Texas A&M, and the Sun Devils had to sweat it out in London to beat Kansas a few weeks back.

Cincy-Arizona: Can Cincinnati go back-to-back weeks in upsetting the Wildcats?

The Bearcats got the best of Kansas State last week and now travel to Tucson. Arizona’s loss was a tight game in Provo, which is respectable, but the Bearcats have proven they aren’t to be slept on.

Other Games to Watch

North Texas (2-2) at Tulsa (3-1) — 8 p.m. Thursday on ESPN
Pitt (4-0) at Virginia Tech (4-0) — 6 p.m. Friday on ESPN
Penn State (3-1) at Northwestern (2-1) — 7 p.m. Friday on ESPN
No. 7 Alabama (4-0) at No. 16 Mississippi State (4-0) — 11 a.m. Saturday on ABC
Michigan (3-1*) at Minnesota (3-1) — 11 a.m. Saturday on FOX
No. 5 Ohio State (3-1) at No. 14 Iowa (4-0) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on CBS
No. 8 Florida (4-0) at No. 25 Missouri (3-1) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC
Auburn (3-1) at No. 17 Tennessee (3-1) — 2:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN
No. 24 Kentucky (3-1) at South Carolina (2-2) — 3:15 p.m. Saturday on SEC Network
No. 4 Miami (4-0) at Clemson (3-1) — 6:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC

Pitt-Hokies: SMU and Louisville now each have a conference loss, meaning the race to playing Miami in the ACC championship game is back on. Both of these teams have tough games remaining on their schedule, so both would likely need a win here to truly be a part of that race.

Alabama-Mississippi State: The country is catching a case of Kamario Taylor fever, as he has the Bulldogs undefeated. The Alabama offense has been stout to this point, averaging 48 points a game. Will Taylor have enough in him to keep up?

Ohio State-Iowa: I’m in the camp that the Buckeyes will win this thing comfortably, but Kirk Ferentz has made a career of dragging a team into the mud for a knock-down, drag-out. Just last week, Iowa was outgained by Michigan 429-285 but won. I think it would take a similar head-scratching result for the Hawkeyes to do the same to Ohio State.