College football 2020: Week 5 games with biggest playoff implications

Two big SEC clashes headline Week 5 of the 2020 college football season and the Big 12 is is once again on upset alert — no surprise there.

The SEC takes center stage in Week 5, as two top 15 clashes headline the weekend. No. 2 Alabama hosts No. 13 Texas A&M and fourth-ranked Georgia plays host to No. 7 Auburn in the deep south’s oldest rivalry.

It’s only the second week of SEC play, but these games feel like they are carrying a lot of weight this weekend and that is because the two losers will be playing catchup in the always tough SEC.

Around the rest of the country, the schedule is a little lighter, as the two games mentioned above are the only matchups between ranked teams. Clemson will host Virginia and while the Tigers are nearly four-touchdown favorites, they can’t afford to get caught looking ahead to their monster matchup next week against Miami.

Elsewhere in the ACC, North Carolina will finally return to the field as they take on Boston College and Pittsburgh hosts NC State.

In the Big 12, Oklahoma will be looking to rebound from their shocking loss last weekend to Kansas State and the Sooners will be hitting the road to take on an Iowa State team that they have struggled to beat in recent years. Texas will be looking for a more complete effort against TCU than they had last week against Texas Tech and similarly, TCU will be looking for a bounce back week after falling to Iowa State last week.

The playoff picture is still taking shape and we may not get more clarity until the Big Ten and the Pac-12 to join in and start playing. These games will either have the chance to shape their conference races or they represent a chance for an upset to shake up the standings.

Here are the five games with the biggest playoff implications in Week 5.