Week 5 of the college football season brings five games across three days to CBS Sports Network, which will carry action on Thursday and Friday nights before a triple-header on Saturday. Thursday will feature a battle between 1-3 Conference USA teams trying to keep their bowl-bid dreams alive, as Western Kentucky travels to Las Cruces to face New Mexico State. Friday night will feature more Conference USA action as 3-1 Liberty travels north to face 2-2 Delaware, with the winner getting a leg up in the race for the conference title game.
Saturday's triple-header begins in Storrs, Connecticut, at noon, where Syracuse travels east to face UConn in a rematch of a highly entertaining battle from a year ago, which the Orange pulled out in overtime at home. The action shifts west for the second game of the day at 3:30 p.m., as UNLV hosts Cal in a matchup of two teams that haven't lived up to preseason expectations and are in desperate need of a victory. Boise State, fresh off a dominant win over Western Michigan, will look to make another statement as the top team in the Group of 6 in the nightcap as they host Utah State in their first-ever Pac-12 conference game.
CBS Sports Network will carry all four games, with full viewing info, betting lines and key storylines to follow as Week 5 unfolds. All times Eastern | Odds via SportsLine consensus Date: Friday, Oct. 2 | Time: 7 p.m.Location: Tubby Raymond Field at Delaware Stadium -- Newark, DelawareTV: CBS Sports Network [Channel finder] Live stream: CBSSports.com | Mobile: CBS Sports AppSpread: Liberty -7 Liberty comes into its CUSA opener on a roll, having won three straight, including an impressive victory on the road at Coastal Carolina last week. The Blue Hens, meanwhile, are licking their wounds after taking a beating on the road at Virginia, but will hope to turn the page at the start of conference play.
Delaware also has a win over Coastal Carolina this year as a common opponent with the Flames, and the winner of this game will throw their hat in the ring as a threat in Conference USA alongside Jacksonville State. Date: Saturday, Oct. 3 | Time: 12 p.m.Location: Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field -- East Hartford, ConnecticutTV: CBS Sports Network [Channel finder] Live stream: CBSSports.com | Mobile: CBS Sports AppSpread: Syracuse -6.5 The Orange have gotten off to a rough start to 2026, with losses to Cal and Pitt, opening their season 0-2 in the ACC. A road trip to Connecticut will tell us a lot about where the Orange are both physically and mentally, as they are road favorites of just under a touchdown, but will need to be careful against a live Huskies squad.
UConn comes in at 2-2 but is coming off a bye week after blowing out Southern Miss and will have plenty of belief they can hang with Syracuse after last year's OT thriller. Date: Saturday, Oct. 3 | Time: 3:30 p.m.Location: Allegiant Stadium -- Paradise, NevadaTV: CBS Sports Network [Channel finder] Live stream: CBSSports.com | Mobile: CBS Sports AppSpread: UNLV -2.5 The Tosh Lupoi era has not gotten off to an ideal start, as Cal is 2-2 with a couple of lopsided losses to UCLA and Clemson. The most surprising part of Cal's early-season swoon has been how pedestrian the offense has looked in quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele's sophomore campaign.
JKS was one of college football's top freshmen a year ago, but the Golden Bears' new coaching staff has yet to unlock his best in 2026. Now they have to travel to Las Vegas to face a UNLV squad that finally got rolling with a comfortable win over Akron last week, but has already seen their playoff dreams likely die with a pair of early losses to Memphis and North Texas. The Runnin' Rebels can still accomplish their goals in the Mountain West this season, and will be looking at a home game against a struggling Cal team as an opportunity to jumpstart a run heading into their full conference slate.
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