Week 5 of the college football season began with 22 unbeaten FBS teams, and the only Saturday matchup featuring a pair of them is an early kick from the SEC as No. 7 Alabama (4-0) visits big surprise and No. 16 Mississippi State (4-0). There are story lines galore here, not the least of which is a matchup of sophomore quarterbacks Keelon Russell and Kamario Taylor, both major Heisman Trophy candidates. It's the first meeting since 2023 between the two schools, which are separated by just 90 miles.
Bet on college football at DraftKings, where new users get $150 when they spend $5+: The game kicks off at noon ET on Saturday on ABC as the anchor of the early college football window. The early kick is convenient as the weather might get sloppy, per Weather.com: Mostly cloudy early. Scattered thunderstorms developing later in the day.
Winds light and variable. At +6 on DraftKings, MSU is taking 59% of the handle and 52% of the bets. Over 60.5 is taking leans above 80% in both handle and tickets.
You can try college football betting on the best sports betting apps, but first you should check out the SportsLine Projection Model for picks on games from both the simulations and our experts. We have a strong play here for those who want to get into parlay betting for Alabama vs. Sometimes the media gets things spot-on in preseason polls and sometimes way off.
The SEC media certainly was wise to pick Arkansas to finish dead last of the 16 schools but looking rather silly thus far for having Mississippi State at 15th. But you can't blame the media, either, considering the Bulldogs had all of one total SEC win in two seasons under coach Jeff Lebby entering 2026. One of the big movers on the Heisman Trophy odds board from Week 3 to Week 4 was MSU's Taylor, now a +700 third favorite at DraftKings, after leading his club to an electric 31-24 home win against then-No. 19 Missouri last Saturday.
Taylor threw for 360 yards and three touchdowns, including a tiebreaking 24-yard score with 3:57 remaining. Taylor, who grew up not far from Starkville (so that may keep all the aspiring transfer portal bidders at bay next offseason), enters Week 5 tied for the national lead with 14 touchdown passes. He looks to become only the fourth quarterback this century with at least three passing touchdowns in the first five games of a season along with Kyle Trask in 2020, Tua Tagovailoa in 2019 and Rex Grossman in 2001.
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